Does anyone know what this Stingray is trying to do?
Is it accustomed to people feeding it and trying to get his attention?
I had an employee at a touch tank at an aquarium explain to me that stingrays swim around in giant schools constantly touching each other so they really just like being pet and touched, and as we were chatting (it was a really slow day) I could see the stingrays dancing and getting antsy because they weren’t getting enough attention and the employee just kept petting them as they kept coming up and bouncing out of the water clearly going “Pet me! Pet me!”
I’ve been here. Not to the ocean floor but to Grand Cayman where the Stingrays are. They are so accustomed to tourists feeding them the all gather in one area where the boats go to see them .
For a period of time, boats were banned from this because predators figured out they could have a Stingray buffet.
Sea cuddles 🥰
Why won’t you fit in my mouth!
Nom nom nom.
In Portuguese they’re literally called mantas aka blankets
That… never occurred to me before. Wow.
Oh my god
Manta ray
Its a blanket ray
Hahaha that’s so cute
idk I see this and think of that kakopo video with the line “you’re being shagged by a rare parrot”
All he needs is an underwater campfire.
Careful with those, you could attract a sea bear. Make sure you draw a proper anti sea bear circle around you.
Not an oval! It has to be a circle!
But make sure to check the sea fire risk index first
Aren’t they dangerous?
The main risk is that they can be very well camouflaged if they are sitting on the sea floor, so if you step on them by accident they may sting. Steve Irwin’s situation was a real oddity, as he was stung in the heart (he was swimming over top of the ray and it must have gotten spooked) - more commonly people are stung in the foot which is painful but not deadly.
Like most wildlife, they should be given space if you are unsure. But there are many tame ones that are fed regularly near tourist resorts, and they tend to swim up and tickle your legs when you stand in the water.
A pissed off stingray is what killed Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter. Though that’s supposedly the only stingray related death caught on camera.
I still haven’t forgiven the stingray.
I know that Steve would say it wasn’t the stingray’s fault, that he was the one intruding and it was just defending itself, as stingrays do.
But I’m not nearly as good a human as Steve.
And Steve probably wouldn’t blame you for that either. He’d just try to soften your heart by being his usual, earnestly enthusiastic self.
Damn, this thread (and replying to your comment in particular) just hit me with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. I’m so glad that I got to grow up at the time when I did, because now I have the privilege of grieving for Steve Irwin. Steve will always be a part of my fond childhood memories.
So one thing, if you haven’t seen, his son Robert is more or less following in his footsteps. his photography is insanely good.
It literally stabbed him in the heart, which seems to me like an unlikely way to die to a stingray, but I’m no stingrayologist, so take that with a grain of salt.
They hurt like a bad beesting. Lifeguards will put your foot into a bag of hot water (denatures the venom) and after a few minutes, you are fine
Few minutes? Nah it’s a proper wound. It’s fine after a couple days in 99% of cases. But you’re underselling it.
Lifeguards will put your foot into a bag of hot water
What if I get stabbed somewhere else? Do they still just put my foot in a bag of hot water?
Yes, even if your spouse gets stung, they put your foot in hot water.
I also choose this guy’s wife.
Yes. You can put your dick in the hot water too if it gets stung
well maybe he shouldn’t have jammed his thumb up its butthole
At the very least, the ones in Grand Cayman are really docile and friendly to humans.
The danger is not they biting you.
It’s not called a bite-ray.
A stingstay
Nom-nom.
From this perspective it looks like they are trying to mimic a hermit crab
