They are soft. In light of Steve Irwin's tragic demise, I wonder if aquarium ray patting pools will be a thing of the past.
2006-09-05 13:31:21 · 18 answers · asked by Alice Chaos 6 in Pets ➔ Fish
Very unlikely. Steve's accident was with a large, wild ray. The ones people get to feel in the parks are usually small and have had their barbs clipped off to prevent such accidents. Anyway, just go to a nearby beach. A lot of people are so concerned about the miniscule chance of a shark bite that they forget there are other dangers lurking about, such as rays. As a fisherman and surfer, I've stepped on three or four rays, luckily I've always hit their slimy wing. But I've seen others not so lucky. I had a friend with me one time while boarding and she got a barb right in the heel of her foot. Luckily the summer lifeguards just happened to be driving by, and it was a small puncture. But she claimed that she felt a stinging sensation nearly two hours afterwards, which would be the poison. Steve was swimming above a ray which he had apparently aggrivated, so making for an unfortunate situation.
2006-09-05 14:12:28 · answer #1 · answered by beachdarryl0202 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Not likely. A wild ray is several times the size of those aquarium rays. My boss has pictures of one they saw in the Bahamas, they are gigantic. The news reports say that this time of year, tiger sharks are in the region where Irwin was skewered, looking for food, like rays, so the rays are especially jittery, and probably not safe to be around. This was probably the cause of the accident.
2006-09-05 20:38:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't they take the barbs out of those in the petting pools? Not sure, for some reason I thought they did. Those are neat, and I doubt they'll do away with those, they'll want to educate people.
One of the cruise ships takes people somewhere by Mexico or something, and they can go out and swim with the Rays....wonder how business is going to be for that.
2006-09-06 02:25:26 · answer #3 · answered by tikitiki 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They remove the barbs. The ones you can pet are itty bitty. The ray that kill Mr. Irwin I believe was 2.3 meter in size! Huge, wild, and frightened the animal acted the only way he knew how to. Myself and my son are deeply saddened my the loss of Mr. Irwin. My prayers are with Terri, Bindi, and Bob. Can I get an "Oh Crickey"
2006-09-06 00:47:27 · answer #4 · answered by Jen 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the owners of the aquariums allow you to pat the rays, the poisonous stinger must be clipped off. It is for their safety and your safety. It doesnt hurt the rays, it feels like getting your nails clipped. They do need to be reclipped every so often as they will grow back.
2006-09-05 20:35:31 · answer #5 · answered by ♫ Violinist ♪ 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
At petting zoos they take the barb thingy out of the ray. I like to go into the ocean and rassle sting rays. And tiger sharks.
2006-09-05 20:38:05 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The stingray that killed him had a poisonous barb. It is very unlikely for someone to be killed by a stingray. Most "pettable" rays are either manta rays (don't sting) or have had their poison removed. They are fun to pet and feed. I hope they don't close the tanks.
2006-09-05 20:58:19 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. They won't close it for that either. Steve was in the wild, the ones in the tanks are a little safer, with the proper measures.
2006-09-05 21:03:45 · answer #8 · answered by Dawg Vader 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in the zoos they take the stingers off. stingrays are usually harmless in captivity but in the wild you never kno when to trust someone. steve just got too close and the stingray was offended.
2006-09-05 21:06:55 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have and the aquariums will not make any changes. they do not have the same type of rays available to pet.
2006-09-05 20:37:05 · answer #10 · answered by Emily E 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋