Stingray expert comments after death of Steve Irwin

(5 Sep 2006)
1. Exterior of National Aquarium
2. Man playing with stingray
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Andy Dehart, General Manager, National Aquarium, Washington D.C. "This was definitely a freak. I mean this is comparable to being hit by a meteor. It's extremely rare."
4. Stingray swimming
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Andy Dehart, General Manager, National Aquarium, Washington D.C.
"When you're at the beach people recommend you do the stingray shuffle, and that is when you take your feet and you grind them along the sand, rather than taking big steps and stepping down. If you step directly on their back, that is what happens, sometimes they'll lash their tail up and stick you with the barb."
6. Pan of stingray's tail
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Andy Dehart, General Manager, National Aquarium, Washington D.C.
"If you are at the beach and you do get stung by a stingray, first thing is don't panic, it's not life threatening, the venom will not kill you. The venom will hurt, it burns, you'll feel a lot of pressure, but the venom is denatured by heat. First thing you want to do is get yourself to hot water, as hot of water as you can stand, and run your foot, your hand or wherever you are stung and you want to run that under as hot as water as you can stand for as long as possible."
8. Stingray swimming
9. Stingray whipping its tail
STORYLINE:
Australian Steve Irwin's death by a stingray was extremely rare, said Andy Dehart of the National Aquarium in Washington, DC on Tuesday.
The 44-year-old Irwin was stabbed through the heart by a poisonous stingray barb on Monday while snorkelling with a stingray during filming of a new TV programme on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
Experts agree human deaths caused by stingrays are extremely rare and speculate that the stingray may have felt cornered between the cameraman and the TV star and lashed out.
Dehart, General Manager of the National Aquarium said that while a stingray's venom is rarely fatal, it is recommended that if stung you should first run the affected area under hot water, as hot as you can bear, then go to the hospital.
Dehart, standing next to a pool containing a stingray, advised that in waters where there are stingrays people should do the "stingray shuffle" which means shuffling along the sandy bottom, rather than take big steps which might possibly land on a stingray.
"If you step directly on their back, that is what happens, sometimes they'll lash their tail up and stick you with the barb," he said.

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