Man severely injured by stingray near Whangarei

The 35-year-old man had serious cuts on his arm after the stingray attack. Photo / Spirit of Freedom

A man had his arm sliced up by a stingray this morning near Whangarei.

Coastguard were called around 10.20am this morning to the 35-year-old who had "severe laceration to his arm", Coastguard Northern Region posted to Facebook.

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Volunteers on the Circa Rescue boat arrived around 10.45am.

After assessing his wound and giving first aid, the Coastguard team transported the man back to Marsden Cove, and to a waiting ambulance.

He is not the only person to be injured by a stingray in New Zealand waters.

Last year Hastings man Alastair Brown was in "unimaginable" pain after he stood on a stingray and got the barb in his torso.

"I stood on what at the time felt like a really big kingfish, like a really, fat, solid fish. I stumbled on it and fell backwards and then when I fell backwards into the water I got a massive jab in my side.

"I initially thought I had been bitten by a shark. I checked down my side because it felt like I would have a hole there. I actually checked twice and then noticed I only had a small hole. It was pretty confusing at the time.

"The pain from it was totally insane. It's actually hard to describe because it's not like anything I have ever experienced before. There was no answer for the discomfort."

Niwa principal scientist fisheries Dr Malcolm Francis told the Herald last year that stingrays were more prolific in summertime as the water temperatures warmed up and they crept in closer to shore to hunt for shellfish.

"Although they're around all year they seem to like getting into the shallow water as it warms and their feeding rate goes up too as they're hunting for shellfish in the sand. They excavate holes in the sand in the shallows looking for cockles and pipi and things like that."

Francis advised to treat a stingray barb injury with something hot as the toxin from the ray's barb became unstable at high temperatures.

"Anybody gets hit by one they should put something hot on it, a hot flannel or immerse the bit attacked in hot water, and that breaks down the protein in the toxin pretty quickly."