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- A group of stingrays is called a ‘fever of stingrays’ and a fever of stingrays stunned beachgoers in Southwest Florida at a crowded beach.
- Someone filming from a hotel watched on as the stingrays swam down the beach and engulfed swimmers who were unaware of the approaching stingrays.
- Nobody was harmed and ultimately it made for a very cool wild encounter.
A guest at the Lani Kai Island Resort in Fort Myers Beach captured incredible footage of a fever of stingrays. For the unaware, a group of stingrays is called a ‘fever of stingrays’, not a school.
The beach was crowded with swimmers who seemed blissfully unaware of the approaching fever of stingrays until it was too late but thankfully nobody panicked and nobody got hurt. Instead, the swimmers seemed to stay put as the stingrays swam swiftly through the shallows and went about their business. And while these stingrays are small compared to this 661-pound one caught recently, it’s all pretty surreal to watch.
Swimmers Engulfed By A Fever Of Stingrays At Crowded Florida Beach
One of the most memorable vacations I remember from childhood was right near where this video below was filmed. We took a family vacation to Sanibel Island one Summer, it was around this exact time of year, and there were stingrays everywhere.
When I say there were stingrays ‘everywhere’ I really mean that. We could walk down to the beach and corral the stingrays like cattle because there were so many of them. My cousin and I would use bodyboards to slap the water and send the rays swimming at each other in some weird game we made up as kids.
Then we went parasailing and the boat drove over a fever of stingrays that must’ve been 5,000 or more strong. I’ve never seen that many stingrays in my life and I doubt I ever will again.
The Stingray Shuffle
I’m a bit surprised that nobody in the water was doing the stingray shuffle. The stingray shuffle is designed to ensure you don’t step on any stingrays that may be hiding dormant and camouflaged under the sand. And these stingrays were swimming swiftly by. But my first reaction would’ve been to bust out the stingray shuffle like so:
The idea is to just keep your feet in contact with the sand. You kick up sand and stir it up. Any idle stingrays would likely see this and take off before you step on them.