What Is the Stingray Shuffle? Avoiding Stingrays at the Beach

Why does the stingray shuffle work?

Stingrays spend much of their time lying still on the bottom, often covered by a thin layer of sand with only their eyes and spiracles showing. This camouflage hides them from predators such as sharks, but it also makes them almost invisible to waders.

A stingray uses its barb only as a reflex defense. When something presses down on its back, it whips its tail up and forward and drives the spine into whatever is pinning it. That is why a normal step, which comes down from above and traps the ray against the bottom, is the most common cause of stings. Three-quarters of the people stung in a study at Seal Beach, California, were hit on the foot.

Shuffling changes the encounter. Stingrays are sensitive to vibrations and pressure in the water, so a foot scraping through the sand warns them early, and most simply swim off. If your foot does reach a ray, it nudges the edge of its body from the side rather than pinning it from above, and a startled ray will almost always flee rather than strike. More on how the barb works is in are stingrays dangerous?

How do you do the stingray shuffle?

The technique is simple:

1. Keep your feet in contact with the bottom as you walk into the water.
2. Slide each foot forward through the sand, pushing it a few inches ahead, instead of lifting it and stepping down.
3. Take short, slow steps, so that any ray in front of you has time to move.
4. Keep shuffling the whole time you are wading, including on the way back to shore.

The shuffle matters most in water from ankle to waist deep, where you cannot easily see the bottom. Once the water is deep enough to swim, lifting your feet off the bottom removes the risk of stepping on a ray.

Where and when are stingrays most common?

Stingrays prefer warm, calm, shallow water over sand or mud, often near seagrass beds, river mouths, bays and sheltered beaches. In the United States, the main areas are:

• Southern California, where the small round stingray (Urobatis halleri) lives in great numbers in shallow coastal water from spring to fall. Seal Beach in Orange County is the best-known hot spot, and hundreds of people are stung along this coast every year.
• The Gulf of Mexico, from Florida’s Gulf beaches to Texas, where the Atlantic stingray and the southern stingray are common in summer.
• The Atlantic coast, from Florida north to the Carolinas, with Atlantic stingrays reaching Chesapeake Bay in summer and fall.

In most places stingrays move into shallow water in the warm months, roughly late spring to early fall, and retreat to deeper water in winter. Round stingrays are drawn to warm water and have even been seen gathering near the warm outflows of coastal power plants. Rays often come into the shallows on a rising tide to feed, and many are most active at dusk and night.

Which stingrays are you likely to meet?

All of them are shy animals that would rather flee than fight.

Other ways to avoid stingray stings

The shuffle is the most important habit, but a few others help:

• Look before you step in clear water, especially near seagrass and along sandbars.
• Read the signs. Many beaches post warnings or fly flags when rays are numerous, and lifeguards know where they gather.
• Never touch, chase or stand on a stingray, and never grab one by the tail, even if it looks asleep.
• Give rays room when snorkeling or diving. Do not hover directly above a ray resting on the bottom, which can make it feel trapped.
• Footwear helps only a little. Sturdy water shoes may reduce the risk, but a barb can go through thin soles or strike the ankle.

At ray-feeding sites such as Stingray City in the Cayman Islands, follow the guides’ instructions, move slowly and keep your feet on the sand.

If someone is stung, help them out of the water and seek emergency medical help immediately: call 911 in the US, 112 in the EU or 999 in the UK.

Do stingrays want to sting people?

No. Stingrays are not aggressive and have no interest in people as food. Their first reaction to almost any disturbance is to swim away, and the barb is a last line of defense against predators such as hammerhead sharks. Shuffling simply gives them the warning they need, which is good for both the rays and the people sharing the beach with them.