Bright yellow Sting ray first aid bags of hot water lined the area just outside the City of Huntington Beach Lifeguard Headquarters where three people, who got stung, in the afternoon recover Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2017. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)
By SANDY MAZZA | [email protected] and LAYLAN CONNELLY | [email protected] | Daily Breeze/OC Regecter
Sharks are sooo last year — it looks like sting rays will be the sea creature causing fear as the new year gets underway.
Lifeguards and marine researchers are searching for answers as to why a record number of victims have hobbled away punctured, bloodied and in excruciating pain from the beach — with an estimated 392 injuries along the Huntington Beach shoreline in about a week’s span — after an “infestation” of sting rays descended into the shallow waters.
The influx can be pinpointed to a combination of factors: extreme low tides, warmer temperatures, and stingrays hanging around shallow waters, along with an increased number of them born out of the nearby Bolsa Chica tidal inlet and scouring the shoreline for food.
Proximity to that breeding ground may be the primary reason for the massive number of run-ins with these shark cousins in Huntington Beach. The Bolsa Chica tidal inlet that opened more than a decade ago has become a cozy spot for sting rays to make babies.
Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach, is embarking on a study to determine how big of a role ocean temperatures play in the phenomenon.