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Ray by Design Stingray Sponsored by Blue Lagoon Island & Vendors from Nassau Dolphin Encounters - Project BEACH Contest Deadline: March 4th, 2016 Beautifully graceful underwater, Southern The unique hunting abilities of a stingray – stingrays choose the turquoise waters of digging, sucking, and crushing – also benefit The Bahamas as their home. Like many other reef animals looking for lunch. These other reef animals, stingrays play an gentle winged fish are key predators in a important role in our marine ecosystem. healthy, marine habitat, so it’s time to “Rays the Roof” and start protecting our stingrays! When a stingray hunts along the bottom, it mixes the sand and stirs up hidden Learn more about this unique animal and the creatures in search of food. Sea birds challenges it faces from the MEPC 2016 Info will often follow the path of a stingray Sheet and express your feelings through art hoping to make a meal from the animals in the Marine Education Poster Contest 2016. disturbed by the ray. Call for a FREE Marine Assembly Program at your school to introduce you to the marine topic “Rays the Roof!” Ray By Design Southern stingrays can be gills As masters of disguise Stingray 101 found in tropical and (camouflage), stingrays can subtropical waters of the completely bury themselves in Animal Type: Boneless Fish southern Atlantic Ocean, the sand or soft seafloor. Caribbean and Gulf of When swimming, if viewed Diet: Carnivore Mexico. These rays have been ventral side mouth from below, the bright belly Ave. Lifespan: 15-25 years found in depths of up to 180 of the ray matches the bright feet and are usually found Unlike sharks, rays crush their sky above, helping to escape Maximum Width: 4 feet roaming the ocean alone or in food -- prey such as conch, large predatory fish such as Maximum Weight: 200+ lbs. pairs. In the summer months, crawfish, worms and fish that lemon or hammerhead sharks. they migrate and travel in live on the seafloor – with Native Range: schools. flattened teeth. The teeth are Buried in the sand... made of cartilage but strong Gliding across the bottom... enough to crush shells. Southern stingrays are flat and diamond-shaped, varying in color from gray to dark brown, and can reach a The silky smooth skin of a weight over 200 pounds! ray’s wings is only interrupted Their eyes are located on top by rough tubercles, a bumpy of the head along with small ridge that extends down the All rays belong to the openings call spiracles, holes dorsal spine to the tail. Like superorder Batoidea, which that help bring water across underwater birds, rays gently includes stingrays, electric the gills and allow the flap their enlarged pectoral rays, skates, guitarfish, and stingray to breathe even fins to fly through the water. Relative Size: sawfish. Like sharks - their while lying on the seafloor. To reveal hidden prey in the close relatives - Batoids have seabed, rays can flap their skeletons made of tough wings or spray water from connective tissue called their mouth. The wingspan of cartilage. They also use eye a southern stingray can reach electro sensors which are up to 4 feet! helpful to detect prey. spiracle (continued…) Marine Education Poster Contest 2016 Dolphin Encounters - Project BEACH Ray By Design (continued…) A stingray’s tail is a long, slim whip with pelvic fins and a dorsal fin at the base Dorsal snout of the tail and soft caudal finfolds under eye the end of the tail. All the fins assist in Side steering. Armed with a serrated, spiracle venomous-covered barb, a ray will raise pectoral its tail like a scorpion and stab a fin predator with its barb if threatened. juvenile tubercles barb Female rays can generally be recognized tail pelvic fin by their larger size but only males have the clasper dorsal fin cigar-shaped claspers found at the base of the tail. A mother ray will give birth to multiple pups and as soon as they are barb born, they set off into the world on their caudal finfolds tail own. caudal finfolds However, stingrays are quite docile and Stingrays are known to visit cleaning are MORE likely to swim away from a stations where smaller fish such as the predator. Ejecting the barb will leave an Many years ago, the venom on the barb Bluehead wrasse or Spanish hogfish will animal VERY vulnerable as the new barb was actually harvested to use as an pick and eat parasites and mucus off of will take months to grow back. anesthetic during dental surgeries. their bodies. Rays Awareness Ray Safety: Stingray Shuffle Rays rely on coastal and near shore marine pollution To help protect rays and clipped barb habitats for critical life history stages impact the YOU, whenever you enter as they transition from their nursery healthy survival shallow sandy waters, you grounds as babies to deep ocean of rays and should always SHUFFLE habitats as adults. An increase in many other your feet across the coastal development and pollution marine creatures. bottom. Known as the within The Bahamas may affect the stingray shuffle, the available places this species needs In the Cayman ray census vibrations of your feet will for growth and reproduction. Islands, alert any possible rays the Guy Harvey Research Institute buried in the sand who can Currently, there is not enough data is studying the behaviour, reproduction safely leave before you could accidently step on to determine if Southern stingrays and population characteristics of rays, them. If you're stepping into murky water from are threatened or endangered. which will help to formulate conservation a boat, poke around with a stick before you set Overfishing, by-catch and plans for this charismatic species. down your foot. Marine Education in Action – New Stingray Program on Blue Lagoon Though Blue Lagoon Island has This husbandry behavior – We look forward to sharing this a long history with stingrays, a pedicure of sorts - is the exciting stingray experience Dolphin Encounters will be equivalent of trimming a dog’s with our guests and inspiring a introducing a new stingray nails as the barb regrows much new sense of conservation for program that inspires ray like a toenail. As a part of rays and their fishy friends. education and conservation in their training, the rays will 2016. Our experienced also learn behaviors that animal training staff will share help ensure they are healthy, the unique features of these eating a diet fit for their winged boneless fish through a briefing weight and size, and show fun briefing and interaction off their natural abilities. followed by free time to For a greater sense of safety snorkel and observe these for our guests, each of our Much like the dolphins and graceful animals in a spacious rays has its barb trimmed on sea lions, each stingray has sandy pool. a regular basis. its own personality and interaction behaviors. .
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