![]() ![]() The ray that attacked Irwin plunged its rear tail barb, reportedly close to eight inches long, into his chest. ![]() Short-tail stingrays possess two tail spines: a slender spike in front of a huge jagged bayonet. Typically regarded as inquisitive but wary fish, all stingrays are armed with at least one serrated venomous spine at the base of their whip-like tails. The largest of all stingrays, the short-tail can grow up to 14 feet long and tip the scales at more than 750 pounds. The short-tail stingray, Dasyatis brevicaudata, is a huge and normally docile fish. The poisonous stinger punctured Irwin’s heart, killing him almost instantly. Irwin was filming a documentary off the coast of Queensland, Australia, on September 4th when a short-tail stingray swimming below him suddenly speared him through the chest with its dagger-like tail spine. Adding to the speed, they are very acrobatic, just like fighter planes.Farshad Khorrami’s Robotic Ray Robert Goodier įor a man who made his living tangling with some of the most ferocious creatures on Earth, Steve Irwin met his end at the hands of an unlikely suspect. They can swim very fast and outrun their main predators, which are large sharks like a tiger or hammerhead shark. HOW MANTA RAYS REALLY DEFEND THEMSELVES AGAINST PREDATORSĪ manta’s defense mechanism is flight. The manta ray must rely on other learned techniques in order to survive in the ocean. They cannot even swallow small fish, and in some instances where a fish mistakenly gets taken into a manta’s mouth, the manta will immediately spit the fish back out.Īlthough manta rays have a wide gaping mouth, this cannot be used to defend against predators. The mouth of a manta ray may look intimidating from the sheer size, however, mantas do not have the ability to swallow anything other than plankton. Mantas can’t even use their mouth to suck in their food: they gather plankton by perpetually swimming forward. Mantas have a long tooth band on the underside along their lower jaw. Mantas do have teeth – however, these can’t bite you. DO MANTA RAYS HAVE STINGERS, TEETH, OR OTHER SCARY ATTRIBUTES?Ĭontrary to stingrays, manta rays don’t have stingers. ![]() It is an extremely rare sight in over 20 years of scuba diving along the Kona Coast, I am still waiting to see one. ![]() In Hawaii, we only have the Hawaiian stingray which lives at depth over 50+ feet. It is worth noting however, the stingray will only use this if they feel threatened, so always watch out for these guys. The stinger is strong enough to pierce through the skin of an attacker and releases a complex venom that can cause intense pain at the puncture site. It is certainly a worry if you would step onto a stingray, as they use their deadly stinger as a defense mechanism. They are able to breathe and push water over the gills. Stingrays have the ability to bury under sand and perfectly camouflage themselves. Steve was a great Australian conservationist and died way too young. The poisonous dagger-like stinger killed him, and his death was most likely almost instantaneous. Steve Irwin died in 2006 after he accidentally got stung directly into the heart by a short-tail stingray. The answer to that question is: “No, it wasn’t a manta ray.” This is one of the most frequently asked questions we get asked before we take people out to swim with mantas. Let’s dive into this a little deeper and answer all your questions – like do mantas have teeth, stingers, or barbs? How dangerous are they really? Are Manta rays dangerous? “WASN’T IT A MANTA RAY THAT KILLED STEVE IRWIN?” Noticeably, the mantas possess wide cavernous mouths and a large wingspan of up to 12-14 feet (reef mantas) / 22 feet (pelagic mantas). There are many misconceptions when it comes to these marine animals, mainly due to the sheer size and shape of their body. Here’s a good article by Martina Wing for Manta Ray Advocates on Manta Rays.Īt Manta Ray Advocates, we refer to mantas as the ‘gentle giants of the sea’. ![]()
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