Does anyone know what this Stingray is trying to do?
Is it accustomed to people feeding it and trying to get his attention?
I’ve been here. Not to the ocean floor but to Grand Cayman where the Stingrays are. They are so accustomed to tourists feeding them the all gather in one area where the boats go to see them .
For a period of time, boats were banned from this because predators figured out they could have a Stingray buffet.
I had an employee at a touch tank at an aquarium explain to me that stingrays swim around in giant schools constantly touching each other so they really just like being pet and touched, and as we were chatting (it was a really slow day) I could see the stingrays dancing and getting antsy because they weren’t getting enough attention and the employee just kept petting them as they kept coming up and bouncing out of the water clearly going “Pet me! Pet me!”
They’re like puppies of the sea, just with stingers.
Aren’t they dangerous?
The main risk is that they can be very well camouflaged if they are sitting on the sea floor, so if you step on them by accident they may sting. Steve Irwin’s situation was a real oddity, as he was stung in the heart (he was swimming over top of the ray and it must have gotten spooked) - more commonly people are stung in the foot which is painful but not deadly.
Like most wildlife, they should be given space if you are unsure. But there are many tame ones that are fed regularly near tourist resorts, and they tend to swim up and tickle your legs when you stand in the water.
A pissed off stingray is what killed Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter. Though that’s supposedly the only stingray related death caught on camera.
It literally stabbed him in the heart, which seems to me like an unlikely way to die to a stingray, but I’m no stingrayologist, so take that with a grain of salt.
I still haven’t forgiven the stingray.
I know that Steve would say it wasn’t the stingray’s fault, that he was the one intruding and it was just defending itself, as stingrays do.
But I’m not nearly as good a human as Steve.
And Steve probably wouldn’t blame you for that either. He’d just try to soften your heart by being his usual, earnestly enthusiastic self.
Damn, this thread (and replying to your comment in particular) just hit me with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. I’m so glad that I got to grow up at the time when I did, because now I have the privilege of grieving for Steve Irwin. Steve will always be a part of my fond childhood memories.
So one thing, if you haven’t seen, his son Robert is more or less following in his footsteps. his photography is insanely good.
In Portuguese they’re literally called mantas aka blankets
Oh my god
Manta ray
Its a blanket ray
Hahaha that’s so cute
