Why do stingrays jump out of the water?
"Rays jump to escape a predator, give birth and shake off parasites," said Lynn Gear, supervisor of fishes and reptiles at Theater of the Sea in Islamorada. "They do not attack people."
They are known to occasionally jump out of the water but are not aggressive and use the venomous barb at the end of their tail as a defense mechanism.
To expose their prey, they flap their pelvic fins in the sand leaving shallow craters. Then they are able to suck up the organism into their mouths with their jaws. Once they have their prey in their mouths, they crush the shells with their multiple rows of teeth to get to the meat.
They breathe using gills on the underside of their body to collect oxygen from the water. Without water, a stingray will suffocate.
Never hold a ray out of the water longer than 4 minutes. A longer timespan can damage the ray. It's important not to hold the ray out of the water longer than necessary.
Mating ritual
Scientists think, just as with many other animal species, that doing so is an attempt to impress each other. Although both the males and females jump, males leap more commonly, theoretically attempting to court the females.
Because their eyes are on top of their bodies and their mouths on the undersides, stingrays cannot see their prey after capture; instead, they use smell and electroreceptors (ampullae of Lorenzini) similar to those of sharks. Stingrays settle on the bottom while feeding, often leaving only their eyes and tails visible.
Bill Van Bonn, Shedd's vice president of animal health. “And we know the animal's not going to tell us.” New research involving nearly 60 stingrays at the aquarium indicates that the animals do not suffer from their interactions with humans.
Stingrays are not aggressive. They are curious and playful animals when there are divers and snorkellers around, and if they feel threatened their first instinct is to swim away. But as with all marine life, people must respect stingrays' personal space.
The sting of a stingray causes a bleeding wound that may become swollen and turn blue or red. It causes excruciating pain and can result in death. Severe symptoms may include nausea, fever, muscle cramps, paralysis, elevated heart rate and seizures.
How do you walk to avoid stingrays?
The best way to prevent being stung by a stingray is to avoid stepping on it when in the ocean by shuffling through the sand rather than lifting your feet and walking normally (commonly referred to as the "stingray shuffle"). This will warn a stingray of your approach, and it will likely swim away.
Stingrays have venomous spines on their tails. If you accidentally step on a stingray, it may respond by thrusting its tail into your leg or foot. Venom and spine fragments can cause the wound to become infected. Stingray stings usually cause intense pain, nausea, weakness, and fainting.
Stingrays' tails do not and cannot sting you. In fact, you can grab the tail if you really wanted to.
Common throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast U.S., Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico, stingrays often swim within a few yards of shore, where they prey on tiny fish and shellfish. They are known to lie on the bottom and cover themselves with sand, which is how most people get stung.
It is clearly dangerous to swim directly over a stingray (this is how Steve Irwin was fatally injured). In general, if you aren't on a tour, it is advisable to avoid stingrays, and you should certainly leave them alone while diving or snorkeling.
Stingrays, on the other hand, exhibit more low-key intelligence. They can manipulate objects to get food and will engage in playful behavior just for their amusem*nt.
"They tend to come into the shallow water they cover themselves with sand so generally you don't see them so we suggest to do the stingray shuffle where you shuffle your feet so you don't step on one and it scares them off," said Routh.
Sadly, numbers of sting ray are in decline. Overfishing, habitat loss and climate change are the major threats to rays. They”re also hunted for their gill rakers (used for feeding) for use in Chinese medicine. At present, 539 species of ray assessed are under the IUCN Red List, and 107 are classified as threatened.
Stingrays flip upside down because they have blind spots directly behind their eyes so they will sometimes flip over to see. Also some stingrays turn upside down, extend their pectoral fins, then curl their fins above the water, so they look like sharks.
Active tracking showed that round stingrays exhibited short movements interspersed by 2-4 hr. periods of inactivity and that round stingray movement was greatest at night during the ebbing (falling) tide when water temperature can increase as much as 10 degrees (C) in a relatively short period of time.
How do surfers avoid stingrays?
The best way to avoid this unfortunate and very painful accident is to shuffle your feet when you are walking in the shallows. Shuffling your feet will alert the stingrays of your approach and give them time to swim away.
Avoid touching or irritating the stingray's tail.
They use their tails for defense against predators, like sharks, and will only flick their tails if they feel threatened or are disturbed in an aggressive way. When you are swimming with the stingrays, you should only touch the front area, or disc area of the rays.
Worldwide, death by stingray is similarly rare, with only one or two fatal attacks reported each year. But non-fatal stingray attacks occur frequently in shallow waters worldwide. These usually involve unwitting waders who step on rays nestled into the sand, hiding from predators.
Don't panic. Stingrays sting to scare us away. The sting is painful, but usually not very harmful. Patients should make their way back to the safety of shore by shuffling their feet (so they won't be stung again).
Myth: Many people have been injured by stingrays. Fact: There have been only 17 recorded deaths caused by stingrays worldwide… ever!
A Painful Toxin
"It causes this intense pain sensation — a throbbing, kind of aching pain sensation. And it literally takes hours to go away." But if you've ever been unlucky enough to feel that pain, don't blame the stingray, Lowe says. They only sting in self-defense.
Hot water inactivates any remaining venom and may relieve pain.
While swimming in chest-deep water, Steve Irwin approached a short-tail stingray, with an approximate span of two meters (6.5 ft), from the rear, in order to film it swimming away. He initially believed he had only a punctured lung; however, the stingray's barb pierced his heart, causing him to bleed to death.
The lifespan of a freshwater stingray in the wild is currently unknown. In human care, they live between 5 and 10 years.
Well, just like sharks, stingrays don't have any bones. Instead, their bodies are supported by cartilage, which is the same material that our ears are made from. This gives stingrays their bendy, flexible appearance.
Do stingrays always sting when stepped on?
Stingrays generally aren't dangerous — in fact, they have a reputation for being gentle. They often burrow beneath the sand in the shallows and swim in the open water. Stingrays will usually only sting when disturbed or stepped on by unaware swimmers. Most of the time, you can avoid being stung by a stingray.
Stingrays are known to be gentle creatures and won't bother humans if not disturbed. However, humans often step on them since stingrays bury themselves underneath the sand in shallow waters.
Common throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast U.S., Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico, stingrays often swim within a few yards of shore, where they prey on tiny fish and shellfish. They are known to lie on the bottom and cover themselves with sand, which is how most people get stung.
To prevent stingray injuries, Vaughn recommends that beachgoers shuffle their feet as they enter the water. “Instead of lifting (your feet) and stepping, you minimize the chance of stepping on a ray and getting stung,” Vaughn said. “This gives the ray a warning that you're coming and gives them a chance to swim away.”
The sting of a stingray causes a bleeding wound that may become swollen and turn blue or red. It causes excruciating pain and can result in death. Severe symptoms may include nausea, fever, muscle cramps, paralysis, elevated heart rate and seizures.
New research involving nearly 60 stingrays at the aquarium indicates that the animals do not suffer from their interactions with humans. And they might even like it.
The best way to prevent being stung by a stingray is to avoid stepping on it when in the ocean by shuffling through the sand rather than lifting your feet and walking normally (commonly referred to as the "stingray shuffle"). This will warn a stingray of your approach, and it will likely swim away.
The most common place to be stung by a stingray is on your feet. When a stingray defends itself they whip their tail from side to side in an action called “spining”. If you are stung by a stingray tell a lifeguard right away! Hot water (not scalding) makes the pain from a stingray go away by breaking down the toxin.
Even after a stingray's death, the venom it produced while alive would still be a threat to humans. A person is far more likely to suffer a painful injury and possible complications from contact with a spooked stingray than death.
Stingrays do not have very good eyesight. So while stingrays are shy and usually want to avoid you, they simply can't see you that well and may swim towards you by accident. Since their eyesight is poor, stingrays use electro-sensors/vibrations to know what's going on around them.
How smart is a stingray?
Stingrays, on the other hand, exhibit more low-key intelligence. They can manipulate objects to get food and will engage in playful behavior just for their amusem*nt.
