A quick update:

The website at Hair Encinitas is live.

Shannon is in full Root & Bloom, and is now doing hair in Encinitas, for anyone that needs an excellent hair colorist and stylist.

Schema.org introduced structured data for Questions and Answers back in 2014.

This page suggests the emphasis in the question documentation means you can use it anywhere, not just on Q&A sites or FAQs.

But that got me wondering: Does that actually work?

If you just pop the Q&A structured data wherever you want, will the question and answer actually get picked up and used by Google (or Alexa, or Siri)?

Can one person use this to affect online reality in this willy-nilly way?

Let’s find out.

The paragraph below is created using (more or less) valid structured data for a question and answer that has likely never been asked or answered anywhere else:

Want to avoid stingrays? Don’t shuffle. Stomp.

There is zero evidence that “Shuffling your feet” actually works.

The Internet, most surfers and many lifeguards all believe in and repeat an old wives’ tale: Namely that if you shuffle your feet, somehow that will prevent stingrays from injuring you.

They call this the stingray shuffle.

Despite the shuffle being common advice, I am not aware of any scientific evidence that suggests shuffling your feet actually deters stingrays and prevents stingray injuries.

Don’t worry about sharks: There are thousands of stingray injuries every year.

Most people in the non-ocean-going public are worried about shark attacks. They shouldn’t be. The fact is swimmers in California have a one in 738 million chance of being attacked by a shark.

What people should be worried about are stingrays.

The Orange County Register reported on the record stingray injuries in Huntington Beach in 2012: As of some point in early November, there were 438 injuries. Again, this was in Huntington Beach alone.  Replicate this estimate through the state of California, and you’re looking at thousands of injuries each year.

Given the high number of stingray injuries, there should be some scientific research performed on this oft-repeated shuffling advice.

I’ve seen it. Shuffling doesn’t work.

I know shuffling doesn’t work from personal experience.

I’ve been hit by stingrays 4 times. I was shuffling my feet 3 out of 4 of those times.  The other time I was walking.

I would guess shuffling your feet is better than nothing, but a better avoidance behavior is stomping your feet.

Here’s why:

I’ve seen it: Stomping your feet does work.

Quite often I dive for lobster in shallow areas. There are always stingrays out there.

I’ve seen this in person not just once or a few times… I’ve seen it every time:

When a ray is 10 feet (or even 5 feet) away – shuffling does nothing.

Stomping my feet, the rays seem to sense the vibration and they swim away with a quickness… even when they are 20 feet away.

It’s worth noting that there are lifeguards who have run through the surf every day of their lives for 40 years and have never been stung.  The stomp is probably the reason for that.

Now, don’t be stupid and run out there like a lifeguard. This is likely dangerous (even though lifeguards do it) because it doesn’t give the stingrays adequate time to feel the vibrations and swim away. You could just step on one.

If you’re going to stomp, do it deliberately and slowly, so stringrays have a chance to leave.

So how do I “stomp”?  What is stomping?

For history’s sake, let it be known hereforth and through the ages that I was the first to call shenanigans on shuffling and recognize stomping as the superior stingray avoidance behavior.  Accordingly, I dub this “Chernicky’s stingray stomp“.  If I do nothing else with my life, there that is.

I’m also not going to tell you to do it.  You’re responsible for your own feet.

But I will tell you what I do when I surf:

• I slowly and carefully enter the water, stepping on what I can see.
• I stomp my feet repeatedly until I get on the board.
• If I’m standing in one place waiting for my chance to paddle out, I stomp my feet in place.
• I get on the board as soon as possible.

Stomping could definitely use some scientific validation.  For now, take it as a highly-likely, educated hypothesis based upon multiple observations.

If you’re a marine biology student, I just gifted you a thesis topic.

At some point, I hope to have time to produce and post a video to this page demonstrating the difference in stingray behavior when shuffling vs. stomping.

Further reading

Having been hit by stingrays 4 separate times, I have become somewhat of a first-person authority on stingrays and stingray injuries.

Having been hit by stingrays 4 separate times, I have reluctantly become somewhat of a first-person authority on stingrays and stingray injuries.  I have a couple friends who even call me Stingray Brian now.

How to treat a stingray injury:

The only thing that works is very hot water.

The only thing that will help reduce the pain of a stingray injury is submerging your foot in the hottest water you can stand – without burning yourself.

If someone is at home, call them and tell them to start boiling water in a large pot.

Find a clean bucket.  You want it clean so you reduce your chances of infection.  To be safer, you can line the bucket with a new trash bag.

Combine the boiling water and some cold water into the bucket until it’s something you can put your foot in safely.

While you’re add it, you may consider adding a good amount of liquid dish soap to the water to further reduce the chances of infection.

Why does hot water work?

It is thought that heat breaks down the protein molecule found in the venom.

The relief you experience after putting your foot in hot water is nearly instant, and it takes away about 50%-75% of the pain.

Consider scrubbing the wound.

When I get stung, and I’m sure there is no barb stuck in my foot, I preemptively scrub the injury with a betadine scrub pad.

The level-10 pain of this is nearly-unbearable, but I do it in an attempt to get as much of the gnarly bacteria and poison out of the immediate area.

I do this before, during and after my hot water soak.

Keep the wound dressed and clean.

After the soak, I keep the wound covered. Use Neosporin an a clean bandage.

It’s important not to let any foreign bacteria enter the wound.

See a doctor.

At this point, I’d highly advise you see (or at least call) your doctor.

To save time, ask your doctor about the following potential antibiotics, which have proven to be very effective for me:

• Cephalaxin 500 MG
• Doxycycline Hyclate 100 MG

My doctor, realizing that I’m in the water a lot, preemptively wrote me a prescription for antibiotics to take in the event I am hit by a stingray.  I start taking them during my soak time now, until I can my doctor.

You really probably should see a doctor.

I know myself and what works for me at this point: Hot water and an immediate antibiotic regimen.  But I keep an eye on it.  If it isn’t drastically better by the morning, I go see my doctor.

The issue is this:

If a portion of the stingray barb is still in your skin, it is not going to come out by itself like a splinter would. The stingray barb has evolved to go one way: Deeper into the skin. And this can become a huge problem if left untreated.

Stingray venom and the stingray barbs are very nasty.  Risk for infection is compounded by any saltwater-resistant bacteria that may be on the stingray barb as well.

Not seeing a doctor, you could even lose your foot. It’s not worth the risk.

The third time I was stung, an acute cellulitis infection required me to be hospitalized for a night.

My foot swelled to 3 times it’s normal size, and required a few rounds of some very gnarly intravenous antibiotics:

Some of the most essential items for better surfing are often overlooked.

Surfing is a relatively-low cost sport, with the main costs coming upfront.  After you buy the  board, wax, and (depending on where you live) a wetsuit – you’re pretty much done, right?

Sure.  But there are some other items that are absolutely essential to me, yet hardly anybody else uses them.

Here they are:

#1: Sunglasses

I rarely surf without sunglasses.

The benefits of surfing with sunglasses is something I’ve written about before.

In short, good polarized glasses will:

• Protect your eyes from the compounded sun rays (the sun, plus the sun reflecting off the water)
• Protect you from cataracts, pterygium (growths on the eyes), and macular degeneration.
• Help you see the outside waves first.

Nearly every time I’m in the water, someone paddles up to me and wants to know more about them.  What kind they are, where I got them, etc.

The best questions?

Do they fog up?  No.  For the most part, they don’t.

Doesn’t water bead on them?  Yes. You’re not a SCUBA diver, are you?

In 10 years, I’ve only seen maybe 2 other people with sunglasses on while surfing.

I’ve come to a conclusion about the best surfing sunglasses I’ve tried.  They’re the same pair I’ve had and used for nearly 10 years now: Silverfish’s Road Trip Sunglasses.

#2: Ear plugs

This is a new one for me, but it’s now an essential.

It doesn’t matter who you are or how old you are: If you spend any amount of time in the water surfing, diving, or swimming – you’re going to get surfer’s ear or swimmer’s ear.

Just so we’re clear, the treatment for this involves a doctor drilling in your ear canal.

If that doesn’t sound appetizing, you can simply wear ear plugs to drastically reduce the exposure to water and cold-air that cause surfer’s ear and swimmer’s ear.

Here’s the best kind I’ve found and use: JBL Hydro Seals.  They cost about $16. Here’s the sizing chart / diagram.

Don’t expect these to keep ALL water out.  They don’t work that way.  They DO reduce the water and air in your ears, and that’s about all you can expect – and it’s good enough.

Compare that to the medical costs of having your ears drilled out.

#3: Booties (for stingray protection)

Here’s the one that most surfers are going to bitch and whine about.

I’ll admit I look like an ass-clown wearing them in the middle of summer, trunking it.

But I don’t wear them to keep warm.  I wear them for added protection against stingrays.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of being stung by a stingray, good for you.

I’ve been hit 4 times.  And yes, I was shuffling.

The third incident involved hospitalization for infection, and thousands of dollars in medical bills.  Stingray venom is some of the nastiest shit on the planet.

The surf industry simply does not make surf booties specifically for stingray protection.

This is despite the fact that a flexible fabric exists that has been scientifically proven to be 100% effective at protecting against strikes from stingray barbs.

Taking a cue from a recent episode on The Discovery Channel’s Shark Week and the fact that stingrays have the same electroreceptors (called “ampullae of Lorenzini”) that sharks use to locate food, I’ve also experimented with gluing rare earth magnets on my booties.  You can read about my efforts, but it’s important to realize I don’t know if it works or not.

I wear the old pair of Hotline booties you see above when I surf.  I don’t like any of the newer surf booties currently on the market, because the rubber lining on them is way too thin to reduce any stingray barb attacks.  I recommend you find yourself a thick old pair. It won’t protect you 100%, but it will lessen the severity of any barb by essentially giving you another layer of skin.

JBL Spear Guns makes a great ear plug product called Hydro-Seals that help protect surfers, swimmers and divers from surfer’s ear and swimmer’s ear – which are caused by water and cold air in the ear.

The problem is that while many online stores (like Amazon) carry the product, none of them have a simple chart that shows how you determine the actual size you need to buy – small, medium or large.

So what I’ve done here is include the actual sizing diagram included on the back of the product.

If this helps you, please buy them here on Amazon… it’s the cheapest place to get them.

Having been hit by stingrays 4 separate times, I have become somewhat of a first-person authority on stingrays and stingray injuries and how to treat them.  A few locals now call me Stingray Brian.

Far from being “smart”, after my third stingray injury, I had a realization:  Maybe I should protect my feet.

So I decided to try and make a pair of stingray-resistant/deterrent surf booties.

Hypothesis:

After some research and trial-and-error, I focused on 4 things to reduce the likelihood of future stingray injuries.

A fifth item was recently tested by a local named Trisha Dunne that I have been in contact with.

Follow these links if you want to jump to a specific section:

You can follow my process on each of these items below, and if you want to try it out for yourself, I’ve included direct links to the products I used on Amazon, where applicable.

2. Using magnets as a “biotech” stingray deterrent

Verdict: Not Effective

Now I’ll discuss the idea of the magnetic deterrent.

Before you read further, know that I believe the magnets probably do not work and are a essentially a big placebo.

Can magnets overload a stingray’s electroreceptors?

Stingrays share some biology with sharks: Namely sensory organs / electroreceptors (called “ampullae of Lorenzini”) that are used to locate food.

A 2016 Shark Week special called “Sharks Among Us” explored the idea of magnetic barriers – and how scientists are exploring how magnets can be used to overload these sensory receptors, and hence deter sharks:

In the scientific literature, there’s a study called Responses of the southern stingray (Dasyatis americana) and the nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) to permanent magnets that shows further promise to the hypothesis that stingrays actively avoid magnetic fields. Here’s the abstract:

The behavioral responses of free-swimming, wild southern stingrays (Dasyatis americana) and nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) to permanent magnets were evaluated in the Florida Keys, USA. Animals were attracted to a baited magnetic treatment board consisting of two 15 cm × 10 cm × 5 cm grade C8 Barium-Ferrite (empirically, BaFe12O19) permanent magnets producing a flux of 950 gauss at their surface and a baited procedural control board containing two smooth nonmagnetized clay bricks. In the presence of permanent magnets, D. americana and G. cirratum demonstrated a significantly greater number of avoidance behaviors away from the magnet side of the apparatus, while both species fed a significantly greater number of times from the non-magnetized procedural control side. Thus, D. americana and G. cirratum showed sensitivity to a magnetic field and were successfully repelled from baited areas containing magnets. The results from the current study suggest that the use of grade C8 Barium-Ferrite permanent magnets as an avoidance mechanism (e.g., repellent) to reduce elasmobranch mortalities associated with fishing operations and beach nets merits further investigation.

So there is the operative hypothesis, with some analogs and proofs of concept already out there.

Now, I thought, let’s glue some magnets to booties!  My thinking was to start small – not with the gigantic, brick-sized permanent magnet mentioned in the study above.

You can see my process below, or you can skip to the part where I explain why I think these magnets do not actually work.

My attempt at making magnetic stingray deterrent booties

In my first attempt, I used a combination of hot glue and Gorilla Glue to affix some rare-earth magnets. This didn’t work, as all of the glued magnets ended up falling off after a couple surf sessions.

Below is my Mark II “current stable model”, and what I used on my booties for a couple years – before taking them out entirely.

A patent for the magnetic surf bootie exists

After my first prototype was made, I got all excited and thought Wow! I should patent this!

It turns out that this exact patent was awarded in 2016 to inventor Michael Bobzien.

Bobzien has some videos on YouTube that seem to indicate the hypothesis is promising:

3. A behavioral deterrent: Stomping (not shuffling) your feet

Verdict: Effective

Shuffling doesn’t work. Stomping does.

You can greatly reduce your chances of a being injured by a stingray by exhibiting proper behavior.

I’ve written this separate post on why the practice of shuffling your feet to avoid stingrays is pure nonsense, and why stomping your feet works better.

Beyond stomping, the best way you can avoid the possibility of stingray is to limit your possibility for injury: Just get on your board as soon as possible.

4. Enhanced vision: Polarized surfing sunglasses

Verdict: Effective

Polarized surfing sunglasses help you see through water.

For many years I’ve worn polarized surfing sunglasses.

One side benefit of polarized surfing sunglasses is that they help you see through (calm) water by reducing glare and reflections.  Hence, you can see stingrays in shallow water a lot easier.

Of course, the primary benefit is that they cut down on the harmful UV rays which cause cataracts and eventual blindness. They are also much more comfortable because you don’t have to squint, and I’ve found you can see the outside waves before the rest of the lineup.

I’ve written this post about the various surfing sunglasses I’ve tried.

The winner and the pair I currently wear?  Silverfish’s Road Trip Sunglasses.  I’ve had these for over 10 years now.

• Buy them now on Amazon

Summary, conclusions & parting thoughts:

What I do to protect my feet

At the end of the day, I’ve acquired some hard-earned knowledge about stingray injuries and avoiding them.

I can’t and won’t tell you what to do to protect yourself from stingray injuries. But I’ll summarize what I do now, and you can draw your own conclusions based on the fact I have not been stung again since doing all this:

Are stingray populations (and hence injuries) on the rise?

A few years ago, I was free diving just south of Beacons Beach in Encinitas, about 100 yards out.  (I had no booties with me.)

I saw one stingray.  No big deal.  Then 2.  Then 4.  Then 12.  I started thinking this is weird, I’m just going to get out.

On the way in, in 6 feet of water, I watched the entire floor turn to stingrays. I could not even see the sand on the bottom.

I believe they were breeding.

This was an odd thing to experience, and it made me realize just how many there are out there, sharing the same areas that surfers do every day.

If you’ve been surfing in recent years, you may get the feeling that stingray injuries are oddly on the rise.  My hypothesis is that their populations are on the rise.

On December 29, 2017 an “infestation” of stingrays in Huntington Beach stung 73 people, with 45 people injured the day before: Marine Safety Lt. Claude Panis said that in his 40 years as a lifeguard in Huntington Beach, he had not seen as many stringray injuries in one day.

I do not believe reliable data exists on the number of stingray injuries over time. Lifeguards in California only track injuries in two categories: major or minor injuries.  That’s all the data that’s currently available.

I have some data on when peak periods for stingray injuries may be for the last several years, based on Google Analytics data assumptions for visitors to the stingray-related pages on this site.

Doing the research

I’m not a materials engineer or a marine biologist.

If you have the means, time and education to do more research, please do so.  Let me know your results, and I’ll happily include your findings here.

Similarly, if you are aware of any scientific literature on this topic that already exists and I have not already included it here, please let me know and I will update this post.

Be safe out there and have fun.