Dangerous Creatures: Stingray

(Temperate and tropical seas worldwide, the Amazon River basin)

   To humans, the colour red means danger. In the ocean, it’s the colour blue.
   Unlucky rays can drown in fishermen’s nets, and end up as food for scavengers.
   The torpedo ray is a stunner that can kill its prey without ever touching it!
   Although it’s not a stingray, the thornback ray has features typical of most rays, and you would not want to step on it!
   An underwater spaceship? No! It’s a manta ray.
   The sawfish, a cousin of the rays, has an unusual weapon for rooting out prey: its nose.
   Only a third of all rays – the stingrays – are a threat. And then, only if they’re grabbed or stepped on.
   Video: Often compared to birds or ballet dancers, rays are among the most graceful creatures in the sea. The barbed tail of a stingray is a painful shock to anyone who surprises this animal on the ocean floor.
   Advice: Do not walk on the floor of the ocean where you can’t see it. Stingrays like to bury themselves in the sand. And don’t touch a stingray washed up on the beach. It may still be alive and dangerous.

Next: Be careful when you’re wading in the ocean. You could get stung by a stingray, or grabbed by a crab.