9:12am
A man survived being stung by a stingray while fishing off the Venice Beach Pier overnight.
Reeling in the stingray just after midnight on Saturday, the man was stung by the stingray’s barb while trying to remove the fish hook.
Paramedics rushed to the scene after the man started to experience heart pain and numbness on his left side.
Typically regarded a docile fish stingrays will use their barbs as protection when threatened. Non-fatal stingray attacks occur most commonly in shallow waters when a swimmer might accidentally step on a stingray nestled in the sand, hiding from predators.
Stingray venom, a potent mix of neurotoxins, enzymes, and the neurotransmitter serotonin, acts by restricting smooth muscle contraction and slowing blood circulation.
Fatal stingray attacks are extremely rare. However, in 2006 Australian wildlife expert, Steve Irwin “The Crocodile Hunter” died while filming a documentary “Ocean’s Deadliest”, after being stung in the chest by a stingray barb.