A man has been taken to Auckland Hospital after an altercation with a stingray this morning.
The Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust (ARHT) was called to Harataonga Beach on Great Barrier Island this morning after a man on a commercial fishing boat got a stingray barb stuck in his hand.
ARHT crew member Greg Brownson said the barb went straight through two of the man's fingers and right into his hand. He believed it happened while the man was pulling a net into the boat.
The barb then came straight back out again and the stingray went overboard, he said.
Mr Brownson said when they arrived at the scene, the man was understandably in a lot of pain.
