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.
Где и когда увидеть
«Постоянные» — значит, большинство погружений в этом месте позволяет встретить их; «сезонные» — значит, они стабильно присутствуют в указанные месяцы; всё остальное — приятный бонус, а не повод строить планы.
| Направление | Достоверность | Месяцы | Примечания |
|---|---|---|---|
| BonaireBonaire | Resident — seen on most dives | Круглый год | |
| Grand CaymanCayman Islands | Resident — seen on most dives | Круглый год | |
| Belize Barrier ReefBelize | Resident — seen on most dives | Круглый год | |
| Florida KeysUnited States | Occasional | Круглый год |
Лучший месяц — коротко
| Месяц | Надёжные направления |
|---|---|
| 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 |
Как их понять
Среда обитания: Sand flats, lagoons, and seagrass beds; buries itself to the eyes between foraging bouts
Ареал: Western Atlantic from the mid-US coast through the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean to southern Brazil
Поведение: 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.
Рацион питания: Worms, crustaceans, and small fish excavated from sand with jets of water and flapping wings
Размер: как правило, около 1.0 m; задокументировано до 1.5 m (disc width; large females dwarf males).
Как вести себя рядом с ним
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.
Охрана природы
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.
Известные места на карте
Смотреть
Из официальных источников
Best Places to Dive with Whale Sharks
Outrageously Tiny Fish
Sink or Swim? with Monét X Change | Monterey Bay Aquarium
Видео — это встроенные ссылки на каналы их авторов: мы ничего не размещаем у себя и указываем все источники.