Human Interactions
When approached, the coffin ray tends to keep still in its place of concealment on the sea floor. As a result, many divers, swimmers, and bathers have been shocked after accidentally contacting it. While not life-threatening, the shock can be quite severe. The shock can still be perceived by a person pouring a stream of seawater on the ray. The coffin ray has no economic value. In 1883, Edward Pierson Ramsay noted that it was the only ray native to Port Jackson that was inedible. It is caught incidentally by commercial trawlers, but is hardy enough to usually be returned to the water alive. It is also caught in lobster traps and infrequently taken by spear fishers. As it remains common and widespread, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as Least Concern. It has been kept in public aquariums, but requires moving food.
Read more about this topic: Coffin Ray
Famous quotes containing the words human and/or interactions:
“Doubtless, we are as slow to conceive of Paradise as of Heaven, of a perfect natural as of a perfect spiritual world. We see how past ages have loitered and erred. “Is perhaps our generation free from irrationality and error? Have we perhaps reached now the summit of human wisdom, and need no more to look out for mental or physical improvement?” Undoubtedly, we are never so visionary as to be prepared for what the next hour may bring forth.”
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“In child rearing it would unquestionably be easier if a child were to do something because we say so. The authoritarian method does expedite things, but it does not produce independent functioning. If a child has not mastered the underlying principles of human interactions and merely conforms out of coercion or conditioning, he has no tools to use, no resources to apply in the next situation that confronts him.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)