Jarrod Kanizay, Sam's father, said his son was calm and not in pain but he took him to a hospital where it became clear the blood "wasn't washing away. They ate through Sam's skin and made him bleed profusely."
Kanizay returned to the beach on Sunday night with a net filled with raw meat and captured tiny bugs that he believes were responsible. He released a video of the creatures devouring the meat.
"What is really clear is these things really love meat," he said.
Hospital officials initially told Sam they thought the creatures were sea lice but had 10 different hypotheses. Richard Reina, a marine biologist at Monash University, said they were probably sea lice, adding that such attacks were "very rare" and beachgoers should not be alarmed.
- The Daily Telegraph