Stingray City Grand Cayman Bite

[DanBMW]

If you pick up a snake, don't complain when it bites you!

 

[Cudabait]

It's never a good idea to feed wild animals.

Walter, you're right on......some just don't get it.

regards,

 

[H2Andy]

It's never a good idea to feed wild animals.

i generally agree... but it just looked like so much fun

besides, it was my wife who got the hickie

 

[nauifins73]

Not feeding wild animals is a good idea BUT these have been fed for so long that they can't stop now. When the hurricane went through last year - the dive shops went and and saw to it that the Rays were fed & cared for.

This was not set up as a dive tourist site. The sandbar was used by the local fishermen as a location for cleaning their catch. The Rays came in for the scraps and have stayed.

Becky

 

[Walter]

I know how it started Becky, but that's no excuse for putting people in the water with them. That makes the situation worse, not better. I also believe it was a mistake to feed them after the hurricane. That was not to care for the rays, but to ensure they'd still be coming back when the tourists returned. Environmentally, it's a horrible practice. I also believe the practice can be stopped. They fed bears in Yellowstone for much longer than these rays have been fed yet that was stopped. This should be as well.

I cannot imagine how this ever got popular. At a location with some incredibly beautiful reefs, people actually go out and make sand dives. Unbelievable!

 

[rhyz]

When I went to Grand Cayman a couple years ago (before I started diving) a group of us did the Stringray City swim with snorkles. It was interesting to say the least and atleast 3 people got their hickies that day. Didn't see many divers in the area, it was just basically us land lubbers.

 

[rigdiver]

It pumps 50 million USD into the Cayman economy every year. Right or wrong it's not going away. It's mainly geared to cruise ship passenger/tourists. Remember the TV ads from the cruise lines? What would you rather do? Look at butterfly's, caged turtles, or swim with the rays? The TV ads made it look like fun.

 

[nauifins73]

I guess we all have opinions. I don't see how bears and Sting Rays can be compared. One can be life threatening to an individual and the other can open the under water world to so many with out serious danger.

 

[BKP]

I know how it started Becky, but that's no excuse for putting people in the water with them. That makes the situation worse, not better. I also believe it was a mistake to feed them after the hurricane. That was not to care for the rays, but to ensure they'd still be coming back when the tourists returned. Environmentally, it's a horrible practice. I also believe the practice can be stopped. They fed bears in Yellowstone for much longer than these rays have been fed yet that was stopped. This should be as well.

I cannot imagine how this ever got popular. At a location with some incredibly beautiful reefs, people actually go out and make sand dives. Unbelievable!

Well... we had four of our kids with us (at the stingray thing in the Bahamas -- not as grand as the Caymans, perhaps, but very nice)...

We enjoyed it... kids enjoyed... rays certainly seemed to enjoy it...

What, again, was the downside...?

 

[BKP]

If you pick up a snake, don't complain when it bites you!

This is Edgar... my buddy... pick him up all the time...

(He only eats what I feed him, too...)


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