The lifeguards that treated my stingray wound told me that the hot water breaks down the protein in the venom. Even knowing about the shuffle doesn’t save you–I’ve been going to that beach for 20 years, seen them many, many times. It was just that one day, jumping over that one wave, and YEOW!!!
Wander past any lifeguard station in San Diego during the summer and you’re likely to see a couple of folks sitting there with their feet in buckets of hot water.
I’m sorry you got hurt and I hope you are better soon. I’ve seen several people taken to the ER with stingray injuries. I’ve been lucky so far but I take that shuffle business really seriously. A stingray can just ruin your entire day.
While working on a cruise line last month, I went on a stingray expedition that was a lot of fun, AND we got to feed the rays, which was pretty weird and awesome all at once. No stingrays tried to sting any of us, but I did get a pretty nasty bite from a tuna when I neglected to lower the calamari in my hand into the water at the appropriate moment.
Sorry the stingray gotcha, Lisa… he must’ve been having a bad day!
You can feed a big tank full of sting rays at the Nauticus museum in Virginia Beach. They’re kind of cute once you get past the idea that they have daggers full of poison in their tails.
I had some rays suck on my toes at Discovery Cove in Orlando. The workers there said they tamed the fish and got them used to people by putting food between their toes. So they see toes and think food, but they don’t bite they just sort of suck on your toes. It felt very weird. But it makes you appreciate the rays a lot more. 
Nice rays.
Where was I?
Oh yeah, so the shuffle doesn’t work when you leap out of the water and come down on one or are lifted up by a wave. I actually managed to teach myself to hold my legs up after the wave passes and gently put one foot down lightly toe first to make sure there was nothing there. You pretty much have to constantly be aware of the possibility of rays underfoot and be vigilant. Or you could just get yourself a floatie and stay on top of the water at all times.
Could someone explain the stingray shuffle to me??
So glad I live so far inland and that when I’m at the coast, my main worry is a shark coz I surf. Yeah I’d rather look like a tasty seal than be shot full of poison…actually…I think I’ll just stay out of the water all together and go inland…wait, snakes. CRAP!
You walk along the bottom in a sliding motion without picking up your feet. That way you can’t bring your foot down on a ray.
I’d have to guess that the life guards are wrong.
a) If enough heat is being applied to break down protiens in the venom it would likely be enough heat to break down at least some of the protiens in your skin. That means it would burn.
b) If you broke down the protiens in the venom, the pain would not return when the water gets cool again.
Of course I’m not a doctor so I could be wrong. That’s just how I analyze the issue. Sorry if I’m being a pest, carry on.
Re the sting ray shuffle: I’ve seen some really dedicated shallow water fishermen who actually strapped old tennis rackets to their feet. I have seen one guy who used snowshoes for the same purpose. The claim is that one can then walk without sliding ones feet and still be reasonably safe from stings. I think it would take a really dedicated and really stingray paranoid person to do this, but I have seen it done.
That sounds cool. Where was that?
Sorry Christopher,
from here
and from this site
By the way, a lot of good info on stingrays at that last site.
There were small rays in a shallow tank at Sea World where you could reach down and pet them as they swam by. Could I have been stung? Lordy, there weren’t any warning signs and about a million people around. I think I’m getting a little woozy just thinking about it!
Well, I don’t have a cite for this but I think I remember the guys at Discovery Cove telling us they removed the barbs. They grow back eventually and the barbs do break off sometimes when they sting so it can’t be too painful for the ray.
I’ve got to relate a story about a SoCal aquatic park. This park is famous for the sea life and the shows. Several years ago a new exhibit opened featuring a walled area designed to look like a reef. It was about 15 feet tall, and had an environment typical of a reef. (Moray eels, etc.) On the other side of the reef wall was a pool with stingrays in it. The stingrays were de-barbed,( or whatever they do to make them harmless) as this area was designed to be a “petting pool”.
The wall was not constructed correctly and had a breach between the two areas. Some of the eels made their way to the petting pool. I was there with an associate checking on some of the items we had built for the exhibit. We were watching the visitors petting the rays and the eels when one of the park’s employees realized that there was a major problem. The exhibit was quickly closed, and the visitors were removed and the experts were called in. Apparently, moray eels are not proper subjects for public petting. Fortunately, all the animals at this park receive excellent care, and never go hungry. Had there been one hungry eel, there might have been one fingerless visitor.
True story.
When an eel lunges out
and bites off your snout,
that’s a moray!
[Bill Maher] That’s why they call them sting-rays. not hug-rays[/Bill Maher]