Foolish swimmer provokes stingray which attempts to chase and attack him at a Gold Coast swimming spot

WATCH: This is the moment a foolish swimmer is almost attacked by a large stingray at a Gold Coast beach.

THIS is the moment when a foolhardy swimmer dived towards a stingray on a Gold Coast beach.

In a video posted to YouTube yesterday, a stingray appears to charge at a swimmer after being provoked in the shallows of the Broadwater.

A Gold Coast marine expert says the apparent behaviour of the stingray in the clip that has gone viral is extremely rare.

Dr Johnathan Werry viewed the footage of a man being charged by a large stingray after he jumped towards it and said it was likely the animal was giving the swimmer a warning to back off.

“That is pretty rare behaviour, you don’t see that too often,” he said.

“Usually what a ray has is a flight response, because most of whatever is after them is a predator like a large shark so in most cases they want to get away as quickly as possible.

“It has come at him headfirst, but has not whipped its tail around so he is actually giving the guy the message to back off.”

Dr Werry said it appeared the video was taken in the Gold Coast’s Broadwater, and with an island in the background it was likely the stingray felt trapped.

He said in very few cases — such as that of Steve Irwin’s death in 2006 — stingrays would use their deadly barb in self defence.

“The rays do have a barb which they use in defence, but that is ... not really a mechanism for attack,” Dr Werry said.

He said from the footage it appeared the animal was possibly a whiptail stingray, which are common in the region.

Despite speculation the footage could contain the shadow of a kite, after viewing the footage, Dr Werry said he believed it was a stingray due to it being “slightly triangular in shape” and having a long, thin tail.

Dr Werry urged swimmers to leave the animals and other marine life alone.

“In most cases you just walk past them and move on,” he said.

What do you think of this man’s antics? Let us know in the comments section below