If you want to keep them out of your way while swimming...do the Stingray Shuffle!

Cownose Rays have been seen in large numbers by surfers and swimmers in the Manasquan/Sea Girt area lately.

Experts say stingrays have come here from the south because our ocean is warmer this time of year. The schools of stingrays can be as large as, say, from Point Pleasant Beach to Seaside!

They'd really rather not be around you, so if a boat gets too close they will usually dive deep, although one listener sent us a video of the stingrays swimming alongside her pontoon boat in the Monmouth/Ocean area (in the ocean, not the bay.)

These stingrays have also been known to swim in the Barnegat Bay, but mostly have been spotted in the ocean...sometimes coming right onto shore or sand bars.

Their flapping has even, at times, been mistake for that of a shark.

You may be more familiar with Skates, which are also prevalent around here, but Skates only have thorns on their tails -- not a stinging barb like the stingrays. Skates are also responsible for all of those 'mermaid purses' (black egg cases) that you see near the water line in the sand.

So if you are going for a swim in the ocean, experts say do the 'stingray shuffle' and kick around some of the sand on the bottom of the ocean floor to warn the stingrays off.

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