The sun’s rays weren’t the only kind of ray which posed a threat to swimmers enjoying the water on New Year’s Day.
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Away from their regular duty between the flags, lifeguards of Pambula Surf Life Saving Club were called to four “stingray” incidents throughout the day at the Pambula Rivermouth and Barmouth Beach.
The first case was at Barmouth Beach where a man had been body boarding and stepped on a ray’s barb.
Pambula SLSC president Stephen Hodgson was on patrol and had received a call to send an inflatable rescue boat (IRB) to pick up the man and to apply first aid.
You should put the affected area in hot water – as hot as you can handle
- Stephen Hodgson
“It was going to take too long for an ambulance to get over there, so myself and one other lifeguard took the IRB and brought him back to Pambula Beach to administer first aid.
“He was in a lot of pain when we got there, his foot and leg had swelled up quite a lot,” Mr Hodgson said.
“Once we got him back to the beach and put his foot in a bucket of hot water it was instant relief for him.”
In his 19-years of lifeguarding at Pambula, it was the first “stingray” incident Mr Hodgson had tended to.
“I have heard of people getting stung but I have never had to treat one,” he said.
The appropriate treatment for marine stings is to expose the affected area to hot water.
“You should put the affected area in hot water – as hot as you can handle, it will relieve the pain instantly,” he said.
Mr Hodgson said he checked for pieces of the ray’s barb in the patient’s foot before referring them to Pambula Hospital.
Lifeguards treated a further three stings throughout the day from what was thought to had been caused by stingarees.
The Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre said there has been an abundance of common stingarees lately which are not to be mistaken by stingrays.
“Stingarees are really small compared to the big stingrays, they are a sandy light brown colour and hang around in the shallows,” Kerryn Wood of SCMD said.
“Their main food source is crabs and crustaceans which is why they tend to come looking for food really close to shore.”
Ms Wood said there has been a notable increase in stingaree numbers at Shelleys Beach Eden, the Pambula Rivermouth and in Merimbula Lake.
“They must have had a really good breeding season, there have been so many,” she said.
To avoid being stung by a stingaree, Ms Wood said to keep an eye out and watch your step when entering the water.
“They are very skittish, it doesn’t take much to scare them off. They wont come up to you,” she said.
“Just be cautious and shuffle your feet into the water.
“Their defence mode is when they put their tail up, that is when you should steer away from them.”
