Michelle Daw, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

A woman who was struck by an eagle ray’s venomous barb says she is lucky to be alive.

Retired nurse Pam Bennett was pierced by the barb in her right arm while snorkelling in waist-deep water at Treasure Cove, near Butlers Beach, on Friday, May 2.

The cove is only accessible through the privately owned Hillocks Drive campground, near Foul Bay, which Ms Bennett manages.

She had been assisting marine biologist Mike Bossley to conduct a survey of marine life in the area.

She said she didn’t see the ray — about 1.5 metres wide — until after it attacked her.

“It felt like I had been bitten by a dog,” she said yesterday, May 4, from her home at Minlaton.

“Blood was spurting out of the wound. The people I was snorkelling with laid me back in the water and floated me into shore, which was a good strategy because the cold water stopped the bleeding.

“Then they took my fins off, and we all had to start traipsing up the stairs on the cliff.”

A Hillocks Drive staffer then drove Ms Bennett to Yorketown Hospital, and she said that was when the pain kicked in.

“The pain was excruciating, I’ve got to say,” she said.

“It (the barb) was sticking out of my arm about 3cm at that stage.

“I kept saying… it’s only pain, I am not going to die from this.”

Ms Bennett arrived at the hospital around 11.30 am, where staff gave her pain relief and antibiotics to counter any bacteria on the barb and cut her out of her wetsuit.

She then had to wait until about 7.30 pm to be transferred by airplane to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

A CT scan showed the barb was positioned against the brachial artery but fortunately had not pierced it. It was then surgically removed.

Ms Bennett praised the medical staff at both hospitals and those who transferred her.

“The nerves are still intact and the arteries are intact, so it’ll all heal, I’ll just have a bit of a scar,” Ms Bennett said.

She said the accident could have been fatal if the barb had penetrated her organs or major blood vessels.

“It should have been a very underwhelming snorkel, on a beautiful calm day with shallow water,” she said.

“It turns out there is a fine line between life and death.”

Pam has been diving and snorkelling for 40 years and said this was the first time a stingray had attacked her.

She said the ray’s attack was unusual behaviour and would have resulted from it being in pain, because of the algal bloom.

“We see them almost every time we dive, and they are normally very placid and docile,” she said.

“These are gracious, beautiful creatures Ms Bennett turned into monsters because they are just trying to survive.

“It’s a tragedy what us humans are doing to the world.

“If you don’t believe in climate change, come and have a look at what’s happening on Yorke Peninsula.

“There’s rays and sharks and fish and sea creatures just dead and dying all along the coast.”

Ms Bennett said she was determined to get back into the water — once the algae has cleared and marine life is no longer struggling to survive.

This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 6 May 2025.
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