Cortez round stingrays (Urolophus maculates) in the San Felipe region look like brownish discs with large black and light circular spots. They can grow up to 16.5 inches and inhabit shallow sandy bottoms around islands and bays.

Brown Ray

This ray's range is from the Sea of Cortez and the outer coast of Baja California from Bahia Magdalena south. Their intertidal depth descends to about 6.6 feet and they feed on worms and crustaceans during the day. Be careful with this type of fish because if you step on one, the sharp spine embedded in its tail will whip up and puncture your foot or leg. This wound is extremely painful, but not fatal. As a safeguard, it is best to do the "Stingray Shuffle" while walking into the sea for a swim. This entails walking without lifting your feet, much like cross-country skiing. Each foot then pushes sand forward and startles the rays from your path. But just in case you forget to keep your feet firmly planted in the sand, pay a quick visit to THIS SITE and print the procedure used for treating a puncture wound caused by a ray.

It has also been alleged that a company called Bethurum makes a product called Sting-A-Way that greatly reduces the discomfort of a stingray puncture wound. It can be found at THIS SITE.

For the following links, after each page comes up, click on your browser's (IE) Edit, then click 'Find (on this page)' and then type in the word stingray. Click 'Find Next'. This will direct you to the relevant location in each document relating to stingrays. Links to Stingray-Related Info/Incidents http://parents.berkeley.edu/recommend/places/mexico.html http://www.clubcruceros.org/StingrayInjuries.html http://www.kayaker.net/baja2000/baja07.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/rays.htm http://www.bajadestinations.com/hbarc/hb2003/hb030421/hb030421.htm

A ray that can accomodate any shoe size.