The day I got hit I knew they were there, I was looking and shuffling...but then BAM!
Believe me I was looking and shuffling a lot more after that first hit, and then WHAM!! #2.
I now use a 8' long walking probe (with a line and float) in an attempt to clear the "mines" when teaching, and I make the student use it when they walk out without the board while I ride back upwind.
It's not fun explaining to students that there are stingrays and that YES they will sting you if you step on one.
I figure if I get stung again I am out of commission for 2 weeks minimum, paying for a Doctors bill and antibiotics, plus loss of work. Get's expensive, not to mention the pain. Aside from lack of consistent wind this is another reason I don't like teaching in FL after May 1...the probability of encounters with stingrays is too high once the water gets really warm! When I ride during April and May I make sure I look very carefully where I stop, and often let the board sink to the bottom before taking my feet out of the straps.
That's one nice thing about Lake Michigan - no stingrays, sharks, urchins, stinging corals, jellyfish...but the water is COLD, still in the low 50's now, but great wind!
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