Drone captures moment venomous stringray collides with 2 swimmers off Australia beach
A drone recording off southeast Australia captured the terrifying scene when two swimmers collided with a venomous stringray.
It happened Saturday, March 23, off Horseshoe Bay Beach in the New South Wales city of Bermagui, and involved a black stingray, according to professional angler Jason Moyce, also known as Trapman Australia.
Drone images show it was about the size of a dining room table.
“A very close call for these boys just having a casual swim. The boys went to catch a wave as the sting ray was going in for a look,” Moyce wrote in a March 24 Facebook post.
”All three got wrapped up in the wave. The stinger got very close to hitting the boys with its tail. ... None of the three saw it coming.”
Moyce said he was “screaming my head off” as he watched the bottom-dwelling creature start to slide under the swimmers.
A slowed-down video clip posted March 25 shows the swimmers quite literally stepped on the stringray, sending up an explosion of foam.
The creature’s barbed tail “swung around very quickly” and got within inches of one swimmer’s feet, video shows.
“Not an attack by any means,” Moyce said. “When rays feel threatened, they will use their poisonous barb as defensive.”
Black stringrays grow to 13 feet in length, nearly 6 feet in width and can top 440 pounds, according to Fishes of Australia.
Deaths from stingray venom are rare, but the most notable example is “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, who died after a short-tailed stringray’s barb pierced his heart in 2006.
Trapman Australia’s posts have gotten hundreds of reactions, with many marveling at the size of the stringray.
“That is amazing but terrifying at the same time,” Gael Walsh Vanderdrift wrote on Facebook.
“I would have passed out,” Chrisanthi Laoumtzis posted.
“That’s some interesting behavior ... Even the large ray’s (like this one), usually try to avoid people?” Brian Galland said.
Angler ‘spying’ on sharks with camera notices one staring back off the Australia coast
‘A horror movie.’ Mysterious eel-like creature caught off Australia ignites debate
Huge half-eaten shark washes up on Australia beach. ‘Equal parts cool and terrifying’
