Florida Beaches: Not Every Ray is a Stingray

On many Florida beaches there are signs posted warning swimmers and waders to "do the stingray shuffle," to scare away any stingrays that might be in your path. But stingrays are not the only rays that you'll see in the shallow waters around Florida's beaches.

A visitor to beachhunter.net has just sent me a great photo of a cownose ray that his wife took on St. Augustine beach. That's the photo you see here. Cownose rays are graceful creatures that often travel in schools. They don't rest on the bottom like stingrays do, and their tail spike is very close to their body. Both of these characteristics greatly reduce the chance of a human being spiked by a cownose ray.

Visit beachhunter.net to see more photos of stingrays and cownose rays.

For a lot more information on rays, be sure to download BeachHunter's free ebook on beach safety.