Lifeguards in Huntington Beach, California have reported that a record number of people were stung by stingrays in just one day.
Lifeguards reminded swimmers to shuffle their feet when going into the water after 176 people were stung by stingrays in a single day in Huntington Beach, California on Saturday.
The warm weather conditions have attracted a large number of people to the beach during low tide, disturbing the homes of stingrays. Lt. Eric Dieterman of the fire department's Marine Safety Division, said: "When you have people in the water with lower tides like that, they make their way out to where the stingrays reside and, unfortunately, people step on the stingrays and that's when they get stung."
Victims of the stings were assisted by lifeguards and had their injuries soaked in bags of warm water to help ease the pain. The number of stings went down by Sunday as fewer people went to the beach after the weather got cooler.
However, Dieterman mentioned that lifeguards discouraged people from going into the water until Monday.
The flat, bottom-dweller stingrays are fond of resting partially covered in the sand in shallow, temperate waters. While their primary defense is camouflage, these stingrays will not hesitate to sting if they are stepped on or disturbed.
This is why lifeguards are advising swimmers to shuffle their feet when they walk in the water to produce vibrations that scare them away.
According to SeaGrant California, stingray injuries can usually be treated with warm water, antibiotics to prevent infections and possibly a tetanus shot but in rare incidents, doctors may have to remove a stinger if it breaks off in the wound.
In 2006, television star and conservationist Steve Irwin died after a stingray barb went into his chest while he was filming a documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia.
