50 Times People Took A Pic Of Something Without Fully Realizing Just How Dangerous It Was

The earth is filled with beautiful creatures, big and small, and it can be tempting to pick something up to take a closer look. But for the sake of your life, it's always best to err on the side of caution. Ask a guy known as 'Frank.' He was snorkeling in Egypt's Red Sea when he came across a colorful shell that he considered taking home as a souvenir.

​​"I thought I just found a very pretty seashell and was thinking about taking it home as a souvenir, but I noticed it's still alive, feeling some weight and movement inside, so I decided to at least take some pictures of it," he wrote on Reddit.

Little did Frank know that his "souvenir" contained a toxin that can paralyze or even end a human life within a few short hours. The cone snail can take down its (smaller) prey in a matter of seconds.

It was only long after his trip that the man learned just how lucky he was to be alive. "I actually had no idea about that thing being potentially deadly until months later when I randomly stumbled upon a picture of a very similar cone snail online, the texture was very distinctive, and I remembered that's what I held," he told DailyMail.com.

Frank then googled cone snails and the penny dropped. He shared a post online titled "How lucky I am to be still alive?" and included the photo of him holding the creature in his bare hands. Mortified netizens were quick to comment, with some warning him never to pick up anything in the sea again.

The cone snail isn't the only deadly creature lurking in the ocean. You might remember daredevil conservationist Steve Irwin. The Australian made a living recording his dangerous encounters with animals in the wild. He was known for his fearless escapades with crocodiles, snakes and other scary creatures that many of us wouldn't approach with a ten-foot pole.

But in the end, it was a stingray that ended Irwin's life. The stingray's barb pierced his chest more than once, before swimming away and leaving him for dead. The "Crocodile Hunter," as he was fondly known, had been filming a documentary at the time of the shocking tragedy.

Stingrays and cone snails are among dozens of venomous sea creatures. The act of injecting venom or toxins into a human or animal via a bite, puncture or sting is called envenomation. According to the Divers Alert Network (DAN), envenomation is "always due to direct contact with an animal (or parts of it like drifting jellyfish tentacles)." While envenomations are rare, they can be life-threatening.

"There are two possible mechanisms of injection: active, such as jellyfish or cone snails, or passive like lionfish or sea urchins," notes the DAN site. "Injuries typically occur during shore entries or exits, incidental contact or deliberate attempts to handle a specimen."

The words 'venom' and 'poison' are often used interchangeably, but there is a difference. Both mean a toxic chemical produced naturally by an animal. But the way they are delivered is not the same.

Venom is introduced via a wound. Think of stingrays, cone snails or snakes, or any animal that uses its teeth, sting, spines or claws to inject its prey or protect itself. "Poison is different as there is no wound involved. It can be absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin, inhaled or ingested," explains Dr Ronald Jenner, a venom evolution expert at the Natural History Museum.

Jenner has a simple way of telling the difference between the two: "If you bite it and you die it's poison, but if it bites you and you die, that's venom."

Fortunately, not all venoms and poisons are fatal to humans. Sometimes the substances are just used as a deterrent. Think hellishly painful but you'll live to tell the tale.

According to the Natural History Museum, the bullet ant has one of the most painful stings of all insects. "The pain can last up to 24 hours, but a human victim is likely to walk away otherwise unharmed," reads the site.

Bees and wasps are another example. While they both sting and inject venom, the insects aren't deadly to humans. Unless you're highly allergic and go into anaphylactic shock.

Back in the ocean, the box jellyfish produces one of the most potent venoms known to mankind. Some of them take less than three minutes to stop an adult's heart. You'll likely be long gone before any medical rescue personnel can respond.

Miraculously, an Irish travel content creator narrowly escaped death after she was stung by a box jellyfish during a boat trip in the Philippines. The woman, known as Julie, was saved by an Australian nurse and doctor who happened to be on the boat at the time. However, almost a year after the incident, she says she has permanent nerve damage and ongoing gut issues because of the sting.