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Summary: Stingrays sting in order to protect themselves from predators, such as sharks. Learn about the venomous barbs on a stingray's tail and how they are used to ward off potential threats with help from the spokesperson of a marine laboratory and aquarium in this free video on stingrays.
Nadine Slimak is the public relations manager and spokesperson for Mote Marine in Sarasota, Fla.read more
"Hi, I'm Nadine Slimak at Mote Marine Laboratory and Mote Aquarium. We're here talking today about why stingrays sting. Stingrays sting primarily to protect themselves from predators. As they travel along the ocean floor, most stingrays tend to stay on the bottom and animals like sharks can swim over top of them. Because stingrays have a venomous barb in their tails, that gives them the ability to defend themselves against sharks who may consider them a meal. Here at Mote Aquarium, we have three species of stingray that live here. We have Yellow Stingrays, Southern Stingray and Cownose Ray. The rays are housed here in our touch tank. We're able to trim the little barbs off their tails, the same way you would clip your fingernail. We just take a nail clipper, clip that barb off and then they're safe for our visitors to touch. Then it's not the case in the wild however where you want to make sure that you shuffle your feet along the bottom as you're walking along our Florida Gulf Coast Beaches; that way the stingrays will sense the movement of your feet; they'll pick up and they'll move away before you ever come in contact with each other. At Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, I'm Nadine Slimak and that's why stingrays sting."
eHow Article: Why Do Stingrays Sting?
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