Sharks! Rays!

I just got back from visiting the Irukandji Shark and Ray Encounters. It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

The place is basically a big barn in the middle of nowhere. Inside the barn there are a number of pools that house sharks and rays. You pay your money, you get led inside where you're given a wetsuit and crocs, and you get into the pools with the sharks and rays.

There is of course a guide. The place has a number of different species - mostly Port Jackson sharks, common stingrays, fiddler rays, eagle rays and a few other species, including a pair of tawny nurse sharks that were up to 3 metres long.

You do get to feed the animals - using sticks with clips on the end to hold bits of prawn and squid. The rays were  very friendly - I'd say extremely friendly. They came right up and gave us hugs.

It's well-known that sharks have rough skins due to the shape of their scales. Smaller sharks are less rough, because their scales are smaller. Stingrays, however, have what appears to be an anti-bacterial mucus coating which makes them somewhat slimy to the touch. It was a little unnerving at first.

And yes, the common stingray is the species that killed Steve Irwin. Our guide had an informed opinion on that, which can be summed up as "not only was Irwin an idiot, but the guy who was with him was also an idiot".

First, Irwin approached the stingray from behind - both in its blind spot and where its defence mechanism is. When it was startled, it did the same thing it would do if it were ambushed by a shark - it struck up with its sting. It was a dumb thing to do. Second, the guy who was with him pulled the sting out. Stingray stings are barbed - like a broadhead arrow. Pulling the sting out ripped Irwin's flesh open and caused him to bleed out. It was another dumb thing to do.

The correct response when someone is stung by a stingray is to get them into very hot water if you can, and absolutely get them to a hospital so that the sting can be surgically removed.

I got no photos. Because, well, wet. We were literally in the water for most of the time we were there. I did get a keyring though.