Rays
Southern Stingray
Hypanus americanus · Cartilaginous fish — family Dasyatidae
The southern stingray is Caribbean sand made animate — a gray-brown diamond that erupts from an apparently empty bottom, wingtips rippling, whip tail trailing, a cloud of silt hanging where it lay. Watch a flat for ten minutes and its excavation pits reveal a workaday hunter that spends its life reading the sediment for buried shellfish. At Grand Cayman's sandbar the species runs a second career greeting visitors by the dozen, velvet wings brushing snorkelers in water hip-deep, an interaction refined by rules on feeding and handling. In its wild mode it is wary, quick, and best appreciated from a body length away.
Waar en wanneer je er een kunt zien
"Resident" betekent dat je ze bij de meeste duiken op die bestemming tegenkomt; "seizoensgebonden" betekent betrouwbaar aanwezig in de vermelde maanden; al het andere is een bonus, geen garantie.
| Bestemming | Betrouwbaarheid | Maanden | Notities |
|---|---|---|---|
| BonaireBonaire | Resident — seen on most dives | Het hele jaar door | |
| Grand CaymanCayman Islands | Resident — seen on most dives | Het hele jaar door | |
| Belize Barrier ReefBelize | Resident — seen on most dives | Het hele jaar door | |
| Florida KeysUnited States | Occasional | Het hele jaar door |
Beste maand, in één oogopslag
| Maand | Betrouwbare bestemmingen |
|---|---|
| January | Bonaire · Grand Cayman · Belize Barrier Reef · Florida Keys |
| February | Bonaire · Grand Cayman · Belize Barrier Reef · Florida Keys |
| March | Bonaire · Grand Cayman · Belize Barrier Reef · Florida Keys |
| April | Bonaire · Grand Cayman · Belize Barrier Reef · Florida Keys |
| May | Bonaire · Grand Cayman · Belize Barrier Reef · Florida Keys |
| June | Bonaire · Grand Cayman · Belize Barrier Reef · Florida Keys |
| July | Bonaire · Grand Cayman · Belize Barrier Reef · Florida Keys |
| August | Bonaire · Grand Cayman · Belize Barrier Reef · Florida Keys |
| September | Bonaire · Grand Cayman · Belize Barrier Reef · Florida Keys |
| October | Bonaire · Grand Cayman · Belize Barrier Reef · Florida Keys |
| November | Bonaire · Grand Cayman · Belize Barrier Reef · Florida Keys |
| December | Bonaire · Grand Cayman · Belize Barrier Reef · Florida Keys |
Ze begrijpen
Habitat: Sand flats, lagoons, and seagrass beds; buries itself to the eyes between foraging bouts
Verspreidingsgebied: Western Atlantic from the mid-US coast through the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean to southern Brazil
Gedrag: A diamond-shaped bottom forager that leaves feeding pits across every Caribbean sand flat, usually trailed by a jack or snapper hoping for leftovers. Ordinarily retiring — the famous boldness at Grand Cayman's Stingray City is learned behavior from decades of fishermen's scraps, now managed as a wildlife attraction.
Dieet: Worms, crustaceans, and small fish excavated from sand with jets of water and flapping wings
Grootte: doorgaans rond 1.0 m; gedocumenteerd tot 1.5 m (disc width; large females dwarf males).
Hoe je je ertegenover gedraagt
At interaction sites follow staff handling rules and keep feeding to guides; on ordinary dives, don't hover directly over a buried ray, don't dig them out, and give feeding animals space to work.
Behoud
Near Threatened; inshore fishing and habitat loss press on it outside protected areas, while interaction-site populations are monitored for the effects of feeding and handling.
Gekende duiksites waar je ze tegenkomt
Bekijk
Via de officiële kanalen
Best Places to Dive with Whale Sharks
Outrageously Tiny Fish
Sink or Swim? with Monét X Change | Monterey Bay Aquarium
Video's zijn ingesloten links naar de kanalen van de makers zelf — wij hosten niets en vermelden altijd de bron.