In my conversations with Dr. Cobb today, he highlighted this video of a stingray saying “hello,” and I demanded that he find the gif. He did, and so this should be credited to him. Would you pet this guy?
Stingray says “Oh, hai!”
January 11, 2015 • 1:41 pm
I know nothing about the species and especially the individual…but, if the request really is, as it appears, for a treat and skritches, who would I be to refuse?
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Not just to say hello. You’ll notice that the guy fed him something. Wow: It came out of the water to get fed! What did it eat?
Anything it wants.
Actually, I think they eat various shellfish by rooting around on the sand.
I fed stingrays chum… hacked up sardines and such. Kind-of ripened fish bits, actually. But this was “stingray city”. They are conditioned by hundreds of years of being fed by humans there.
At the aquarium in Norwalk, CT, there is an exhibit where you can pet rays–they swim around in this big shallow pool and they come up to you for scritches. Quite adorable.
Yeah. They had one of those as well at Sea World in San Diego. I do not recall the species. They also had a shallow pool where you could touch horseshoe crabs. I unthinkingly picked one up to give my son a quick zoology lesson, and a guide was on me in a second and he was kinda ticked.
So, did you unthinkingly pick up one of the ticks to give your son another quick zoology lesson?
The Deep in Kinston-upon-Hull has such a thing too. And Longleat, iirc.
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I patted one at the Aquarium in Monterey, CA this way.
Oh, there too.
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Those were cownose rays.
Reblogged this on Fairy JerBear's Queer World News, Views & More From The City Different – Santa Fe, NM and commented:
I’m not sure if I’d think, “how cute” or be moderately terrified…
He looks as though he was trying to look with all his eyes.
I wouldn’t pet the ray, nor would I put it on display in a tank.
“Would you pet this guy?”
Of course…did that in the Caymans, I think. The dive guides give you food that you can use to feed them. They’ll accept food right out of your hand.
I did the same thing in Bora Bora. Those ones at least (with all of their conditioning) were quite friendly. Reminded my wife and me of cats, actually.
Stingrays aren’t scary. The barb is at the base of the tail, and you’re safe if you don’t abuse them.
Many times when diving I’ve seen stingrays, some huge, often very close to shore – it’s always a thrill. Because of the way they bury themselves in the sand, you often don’t see them until you’re quite close.
I’ve also been net and hinaki fishing with people who’ve stood on them accidentally. Usually the stingray just swims away. It’s only if you’re unlucky enough to stand near the barb you’re in trouble.
Once I was snorkeling in very shallow water off Costa Rica, when a section of sea floor about the size of a card table rose up and casually flapped off…
Aussie conservation ist Steve Irwin was stabbed to death by a sting ray so havdle these guys with care.
Aussie conservationist Steve Irwin was stabbed to death by a sting ray so handle these guys with care.
Rays strike me as one of the most graceful creatures on the planet.
I had one rub up against my leg once. Scared the living shit out of me and I ran from the beach back to the camp site. :/