Scooter Free Diving Skates

[ricki]

I headed out for a quick beach dive last weekend. I took along a couple of GoPro Hero 3 cameras mounted on a Quikpod Monopod. The monopod allowed me to put the cameras in close to areas I would just as soon not put parts of me that could get pierce by a ray spine. In the end, everyone was happy, at least I was.



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Floating with a bit of Photoshop



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A Southern Stingray eases away



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A southern stingray showing its barb* or bony process it uses in defensive moves. They say it can strike the spike anywhere above or beneath the outline of its body very fast. The bone is brittle and prone to breaking off in the wound. Also it secretes a painful venom into the wound which is also prone to infection, sometimes quite serious requiring special treatment. Steve Irwin suffered a fatal would when he moved close over a ray and caught a spike in his heart. Distance can be a good thing when they are disturbed. If you are walking through shallow areas where rays occur it is good to shuffle your feet to ideally send them off rather than spiking your leg. I had my GoPro Hero 3 camera on a Quikpod Monopod insuring a good offset distance while allowing closeup shots.



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Motoring across the sand to pickup a camera



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A mutant snake-like cowfish? No, just wide angle distortion out of the GoPro.



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A rare guitarfish, for me anyway, moves off into the blue.



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Picking up the scooter



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A closer look at the guitarfish



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[ricki]

Stewart Murray had a nasty run in with a stingray. Here are some photos from his FB page:


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Glad Stewart is feeling better but he is still dealing with some serious infection issues. Always shuffle your feet and walk slowly where stingrays might hang out to try to scare them out of striking range. That is pretty much anywhere in shallow water in Florida. If you are spiked seek experienced medical attention, these injuries are prone to some nasty infection and complications in healing.

The ironic thing in this case is that Stewart was kiting in about six feet of water when he was struck by the spike.