If you are a fan of Deal or No Deal Island, the survivor-like reality show produced by NBC, you may have noticed the contestants wearing some unusual footwear during the swamp challenge of Season 2, Episode 2. They are actually wearing DragonSkin® Booties! But why?

Deal or No Deal Island is set on an undisclosed private island off the coast of Panama. Round Stingrays, the type of stingray that DragonSkin booties are explicitly designed to protect against, are present in waters from Santa Barbara all the way down to Panama, including in some mangrove swamps.

(image source: CSULB Shark Lab)

So when the contestants are walking through the murky waters, competing to grab cases, they’re at risk of stepping on, and being stung by a stingray. This is why the contestants are wearing DragonSkin® Booties during the challenge. To see a good still shot of the booties, check out 12:47 in the video.

Although the overwhelming majority of stings occur at coastal beaches, wading through mangrove swamps like in this episode can come with significant dangers, so it’s good that the NBC producers were looking out for the safety of their contestants. To keep yourself safe at the beach, read more about How to Avoid Getting Stung by Stingrays.