A retired nurse has nearly lost her life after her arm was pierced by a 16cm stingray barb.
Pam Bennett, a 68-year-old from Minlaton, was snorkelling off South Australia’s southern Yorke Peninsula on Friday morning with a group of four, taking part in a marine life survey, when the stingray struck.
Out of nowhere, an eagle ray suddenly came from behind and speared her arm with its 16cm barb — roughly the size of a dinner plate.
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“First thing I knew is my arm was grabbed by what felt like a dog bite which was the barb being forced in,” Bennett recalled in an interview with 7NEWS.
Looking back, she said it felt more like a dagger, almost coming out underneath her arm.
Photos from the scene show blood spurting from the wound, soaking her snorkelling outfit.
“I count myself very lucky, I’m very lucky that’s where the ray struck, it could have been in my face or my abdomen or anywhere,” Bennett said.
With the help of fellow snorkellers, she was floated to shore and rushed to Yorketown Hospital before being flown to Adelaide to have the barb removed.
Having snorkelled regularly for years, Bennett described the incident as behaviour “no one will have heard of”.
“These creatures are normally big, beautiful, gentle, passive creatures that just sit on the ocean floor and mind their own business while you mind your own business,” she said.
Marine biologist and environmentalist Mike Bossley, who was snorkelling with Bennett, called the incident a “marine catastrophe”.
He suggested an algal bloom might have contributed to the incident by lowering oxygen levels in the water.
“The algae can coat the gills of fish and cause them to suffocate,” he explained.
“I think when they come to shore, they’re close to death, maybe trying to find water with more oxygen.”
“It could be the cause of this,” he added.
On Monday, a 2.7m great white shark became stranded at Henley Beach South in Adelaide’s west.
Bossley said the warm water could also have affected sharks.
In the last two months, several marine creatures, including sharks, rays, fish, and octopuses, have been found washed up on beaches south of Adelaide.
It remains unclear how exactly the warm water is affecting these marine creatures.
