How to Avoid a Stingray Attack

While stingrays will rarely attack anyone, they don't enjoy being stepped on. Step on a stingray, and the ray's instinctive response will set you hopping. The stingray hop season begins in May and runs through October. You can do some things to avoid a stingray attack while spending a day at the beach.

Instructions

1. Pay attention to posted warning signs, especially if you're the first one in the water.

2. Do the shuffle. Because stingrays settle into the sand, they're difficult to spot even in clear water. Instead of stepping, shuffle your feet forward to avoid stepping directly on a stingray and provoking a reaction.

3. Keep from swimming near jetties and piers where stingrays gather. Although stingrays aren't aggressive, you may accidentally corner one and provoke a strike from the instinctive tail flip.

4. Stay clear from the ocean floor when snorkeling or diving. If a stingray feels threatened, the tail will strike because this is the ray's natural protection. Stingrays may allow swimmers to approach closely but then react without warning.

5. Avoid swimming over a moving stingray. While snorkeling at Batt Reef off Queensland, Australia, Steve Irwin, the wildlife expert, swam over a large stingray and was fatally stung in the chest. Although death by stingray attack is rare, even a small barb in the foot is painful.

6. Wear protective waders when fishing. However, most water shoes provide minimal protection because a stingray's tail barb can easily pierce the water shoe's mesh fabric.

Tips & Warnings

• Because a stingray wound can become dangerously infected, seek medical help immediately.

• Avoid the barb even if the stingray appears to be dead or beached.