Distinguished Speaker: Dr. Ben Perlman

Putting science behind the stingray shuffle and other observations with the round stingray

Around the coastal United States, stingray strikes account for nearly 2,500 emergency room visits on an annual basis, in addition to the several hundreds to thousands of less-serious injuries that do not yield a trip to the hospital. Along California beaches, the Haller’s Round Ray (Urobatis halleri), is responsible for the majority of these interactions, with anywhere between 200 and 400 stingray-related injuries being reported each year from Seal Beach alone. During summer months, round stingrays aggregate in warm, shallow sandy-bottom areas along our coast, often coinciding with beach goers. While stingray strikes are generally non-life threatening, their barbs are capable of inflicting deep lacerations while potentially envenomating the victim. Despite the rate at which these encounters occur and the threat that they pose to public safety, very little is known about the behavior of these stingrays and their tail strike events. We use multiple high-speed cameras and motion tracking software to record and describe the tail strike behavior across the size range of the round stingray. This information, along with other experiments we are conducting in my lab with round stingrays, will provide applications relevant to beach safety.