Swimming with Stingrays
The circumstances of Steve Irwin’s death require some kind of commentary alongside this entry from the logbook. Stingrays have had their share of bad publicity since the tragedy and they certainly are a danger to anyone wading in tropical shallows without paying attention. They have a habit of resting stationary on a sandy bottom, concealing themselves by disturbing the sand and allowing it to settle on their back. They can be very hard to see and if you step on them, they will sting you on the leg, which is agonisingly painful but not fatal. Better still, if you shuffle you feet a little as you wade so that they can see you coming, they will move out of your way with complete lack of aggression.
Steve Irwin was stung by a ray that was swimming past him and was unlucky enough to be struck in the heart. I have never understood why the fish should have stung him unless it was provoked.
We have swum with Stingrays on numerous occasions without incident and would do so again without hesitation. Moorea’s lagoon was home to a large population of rays that we got to know well….
A couple of miles west of us inside the lagoon we find a sandy shoal frequented by a huge school of large stingrays, some more than a metre wide, that have been fed by the locals for years and have become quite used to people in the water with them. They are serene and gentle creatures, if a little over excitable at dinner time.
We stand in 3 or 4 feet of water holding finger sized chunks of fish and are mobbed by them, sometimes surrounded by a corset of 4 rays, where the one behind you who is furthest from the food launches himself up your back and flaps his wings on your shoulders to try to catch your attention. The communication is perfectly clear.. As his wings flutter on your back, you can almost hear Thomas’ excited refrain squeaking “Pick Me, Pick Me!! ”
Most extraordinary, though was the way in which the rays organised their social group to monopolise the food source and keep the reef sharks away. We attracted a group of nearly 20 stingrays, but only 3 or 4 have a realistic chance of being fed by the person at their centre. Rather than the free for all you would expect, they operate a rota system where 3 or 4 of them come close to let you feed them and the rest form a protective cordon to keep the sharks away from the food, swimming around you in a circle. The reef sharks are clearly intimidated and make no attempt to enter the circle patrolled by the rays.
After being fed, the rays at the centre rejoin the perimeter patrol and 3 new individuals move in to be fed. Despite their excitement at being fed, the rays around you keep their barbs flat on their tails at all times.
George’s diary records: ” 20 July’ 05 Today we fed wild sting rays in the shallows of Moorea. When we stroked the sting rays they felt silky soft and to feed them we had to lift up their nose and drop the bait in their mouth.”
George and Thomas are just entranced by the experience.