Sounds like something straight out of a Carl Hiaasen book. As Miami Herald columnist Dave Barry would say,
"I swear I'm not making this up!" According to this story
an 81 year old man suffered a serious, but not fatal (so far), deep chest wound after a large
sting ray leapt into his boat and stabbed him. The sting ray has no known terrorist affiliations,
but you can be sure the Dept. of Homeland Security is on top of this one.
Here's an article commenting on Florida stingrays by Virginia Smith of the
Daytona Beach News Journal.
Above photo: stingray washed up on St. Augustine
Beach. Check out the barb
on the tail. This excellent photo was sent to BeachHunter April 2007 by
Jim & Mary Midthun of Ham Lake, Minnesota.
T
here are many types of rays in
Florida waters. Most of them can cause you no harm. The Sting Ray can cause a
painful wound. They lay on the sandy bottom partially covered with sand.
Sometimes only their eyes are poking out of the sand. Sting Rays have a sharp
bony barb at the base of their tails. If you step on the animal, it reacts by
lashing its tail at your foot. The barb does have venom and it causes a
very painful wound which can easily produce a nasty infection.
Avoiding stingrays.
The best way to
avoid Sting Rays is to shuffle your feet when you are walking in the water.
During some months the rays are particularly common and it is not unusual to see
a dozen or more swimming away if you are the first person in the water. They are
not terribly shy and will allow you to approach quite closely before fleeing.
Beachhunter's
experience
Yes, I have been speared by a Sting Ray. It was a very very small one and it
stuck me in the toe. I lived. Actually I am amazed that in all the years I spent
surfing, paying no attention whatsoever to where I was stepping, I only got
stuck once. Sting Ray season is generally May through October. Actually, the
most painful wound I ever got was when I was paddling my surfboard and impaled
my hand on the top spine of a catfish that happened to be swimming underneath
me. I had to shake it off my hand. That really hurt and was the end of surfing
for that afternoon.! What do you suppose the odds of that happening are?
Stingray protective
ankle and leg guards for fishermen and waders!
What if you get stuck by a
stingray?
If you are injured by a Stingray, wash the area with salt water.
Remove any foreign material from the wound. Alert the lifeguard if there is one.
Lifeguards know how to handle Stingray wounds. Soaking the wound in water as hot
as the injured person can stand it for 30 - 90 minutes helps relieve the pain.
Deep wounds from large Stingrays and wounds to the abdomen or chest are very
serious and the person should be taken to the hospital right away. Most injuries
are to the feet and legs. If you are fishing and catch a Stingray, even if it is
out of the water it can stab you by flipping its tail violently. It is highly
unusual for a person to die as a result of a stingray injury, however,
there are at least three recorded incidents around the world resulting
in a death. A deep injury to the chest, neck, head, or abdominal
cavity, or an arterial puncture could most certainly result in death.
Above: the stingray tail barb. Ouch! photo copyright
© Midthun 2007
More detailed information on
stingrays, stingray injuries, and how to avoid being injured by a stingray can
be found in my FREE downloadable book on beach hazards. This book normally is
downloaded by about 50 people each week. However on Labor Day, more than 90
people downloaded it in one day as a result of Steve Irwin's unusual and
untimely death by stingray. My book is a pdf file and is about 1 megabyte in
size. It is called How to
Be Safe From Sharks, Jellyfish, Stingrays, Rip Currents and other Scary Things.
Follow the link for more info and to download the book. See a photo of the book
cover at the bottom of this page.
Stingray photo by Beachhunter
Below is a photo I took of a
stingray on Treasure Island in Pinellas county in August 2004. It is in about 8
inches of water, roughly 5 feet from shore, and was mostly obscured by the
sediment stirred up with each little wave. I had a hard time getting this
picture, as the little guy would suddenly become invisible. The ray's body is
about 8 inches wide, and the tail is probably 14 inches long. Although the tail
looks stiff in this photo, it is quite flexible. The entire tail is not
dangerous. The spine that is dangerous is actually invisible here since it is
near the base of the tail and is hidden underneath the tail.
Download the
above book for FREE now!
Just click on
the book cover to go to the download page.
