shadows in the water

A family trip to the beach today (still no oil pollution yet, knock on wood!) brought a surprise- 100's of sting rays in the water! They were close enough to touch, just feet off the shore in waist deep water, if they held still, which of course they never did. I hear a stingray sting is painful, however watching them today made me wonder how anyone ever manages to get stung! Maybe they act differently in other parts of the gulf.  As you can see from my photos, as soon as we got close enough to take a picture they'd swim away. If you're local or plan to visit and you're worried, avoiding these animals is easy. They only attack if they're startled, and none of the curious beach bums managed to get close enough to do that. However if you're still worried, to best prevent a sting, "shuffle" your feet in the water. Any possibly buried rays (we never saw them bury themselves, they just skidded along the top of the warm water) will feel the vibrations, and swim away quickly.

We truly live in an incredible and beautiful place!