DoE still watching out for stingrays
(CNS): The Department of Environment has continued to watch out for the stingrays over the last two months since tourist trips to the Sandbar stopped. Staff from the DoE check on the rays, offering them a little human interaction and supplementing their diet. Until the marine restrictions are lifted and people can go back to Stingray City, the DoE is reinforcing the rays’ association between boats, humans and food with regular feeding.
According to a DoE report, the rays appear happy to see the DoE researchers when they arrive, and as many as 26 have turned up while DoE staff were in the water feeding them. The boats visit 10am and 1pm daily and feed between 5lbs and 20lbs of food to the rays, depending on the numbers. Researchers stay for around half an hour doing intermittent counts of the rays in between feeding.
The work of the department will ensure that when private boats are allowed to return to the much-loved spot, the rays will still be there and happy to see the visitors and what they have to offer. While it may be some time before tourists return, locals still enjoy the unique attraction.
Full details of feeding efforts and the rays’ presence at the Stingray City Sand Bar is available on the DoE website here.
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Category: Business, Marine Environment, Science & Nature, Tourism
When will be be allowed to go out and catch them? The people are hungry Alden!
I guess you’re trying to be funny but this is what we call a Troll. And it’s not funny.
Guess you’re a Civil “Servant”, sitting on your ass doing nothing on full pay and benefits
Can I get a job there please do I can get on a boat & swim every day. No pay required.
I volunteer to help 😷
When did the DOE transition from environment to tourism agency? Let nature correct it’s course and reduce the abnormally high human-influenced ray population and their dangerous association with boats and humans as their meal ticket. Even Venice’s famous St Mark’s Square has made it illegal to feed the pigeons. We should give that food chain a well-dererved break from our meddling.
Typical expat want to get rid of everything cayman has created. It’s our numbet one attraction. Get rid of it. You shouldn’t have.
Sounds like a Caymanian bobo.
Basically, our Environmental stewards won’t let wild stingrays be wild stingrays because of their economic value to Dept of Tourism as trained commercial pets – and despite the fact that there is no “normal” Tourism on the calendar for maybe next two or three years. If we are going to make that admission out loud, then get the DoT and watersports industry to pay this tab to tether them to that location. Don’t use our DoE budget, time, and resources to fully corrupt their sworn mission and purpose. That’s offensive.
3:20 as it currently stands there is a healthy balance between the health of the animals (in this case the rays) and a stable tourism product. as each ray is worth more than 500k annually to Cayman’s economy they are crucial for our economic stability. Research is frequently conducted on their population and interactions with the rays are adjusted accordingly. For instance a study found at one point they were being overfed. subsequently the number of boats at the site at any given time was limited as was the amount of food each tour was able to give the rays. Please do not make everything negative. If the rays were genuinely in trouble from the human interaction something would be done about it.
The rays are furloughed, no nett value.
If the DOE has taken the position that “wild” stingrays are economic pets, unable to forage for sufficient food in their own natural born environment, then that is an admission that we are already well outside of healthy balance.
I’m caymanian and I’m inclined to agree. That said I’m not one of those caymanians that believe we should be dependent on tourism for our livelihood. It’s too fickle. The energy we spend subsidizing and promoting a sub par tourism product that we could lose after one storm is bizarre to me. In my opinion that energy is best redirected towards educating caymanians to find other more resilient and sustainable ways to generate revenue.
Well done guys – thank you. Would be a great story for the international press in those times of dark news.