The Caymanian Land & Sea Co-operative Society has taken on a new pro-active policy to help sustain stingrays at Stingray City Sandbar.
The Land and Sea Co-operative, which currently has 171 members, with at least 30 boats operating Stingray City tours, recently took on board a policy of not removing stingrays from the water.
Explained Land and Sea Co-op Manager Julia Swanson, ‘This is the policy of the co-op. Stingrays should be in their natural environment, in the sea, and not held up in the air for a photograph,’ she said.
The co-op consists of watersports operators, taxi drivers, and tour guides who work together to retain the warm feel of the unique Caymanian way while efficiently dealing with growing tourism.
Photographer Len Layman, who has been campaigning against the unnecessary removal of stingrays from the water for about four years, is very happy about the Land & Sea Co-op’s step.
‘I’m very excited that the co-op has made this decision, because these operators are all Caymanians and with them joining the fold it will be great. Stingray City is one of the unique attractions that we have here and we need to treat it as the gem that it is,’ he said.
He is concerned about the way the rays are treated, and while many handlers treat the rays with respect, there are others who abuse them in the name of making more tips, he claims.
A letter from Mr. Layman that appeared in The Caymanian Compass on 28 March, 2002 reads, ‘Stingray City Sandbar is a unique attraction . . . Without this attraction many thousands, if not millions of dollars, would be lost to Cayman. I believe that no-one would dispute that these rays are a valued and treasured natural resource, one that should be treated with respect, not as a freak side show attraction in a carnival.’
This letter went on to say, ‘Stingrays are fish. And a fish out of water is a fish out of its natural element. Rays breathe water through their gills, extracting life-sustaining oxygen from the water. Just as the human lungs cannot extract oxygen from water nor can the rays extract oxygen from air. When a ray is removed from the water it is unable to control the oxygen intake. The ray essentially is ‘drowning in air’, much the same if you took a child and held it underwater.’
Potentially damaging
At best, this could be stressful for the stingray, at worst, physically damaging, he says. ‘I’d hate to find out in years to come that it was damaging to them and we should never have been doing it, because by then it could be too late.’
While some may argue that since stingrays have been treated this way for years, it’s alright to keep doing so, Mr. Layman likens this to the now scarcity of grouper.
‘People were fishing grouper for years and saying ‘why shouldn’t we?’, but then a problem arose because of it, and where are they?’ he said.
What Mr. Layman advocates is holding the rays in the water gently and respectfully, giving the tourist a chance to interact with them, photograph them, and learn to respect and enjoy them.
Aside from the Land & Sea Co-op, other boat operators and dive companies have already taken on this policy. In recognition of this, Mr. Layman has included these ‘stingray friendly’ operators on a website he created, dedicated to Stingray City, www.stringraycity.org
He encourages visitors to the website to utilise these operators. Those listed on the website are: Blind Love Charters, Peacemaker Charters, Double Trouble, Dexter’s Fantasea Tours, Capt Bryan’s, Red Sail Sports, Divetech, Moby Dick Tours. Those who have also taken on the policy include Kirk Sea Tours, Resort Sports Beach Club and Don Foster’s Dive.
‘Operators who have made it part of their policy not to take stingrays out of the water realise that their business depends on the long-term health of the stingrays and so they leave the rays in the water,’ he explains.
Those in the co-op will self-police the handling of stingrays and this will filter from the owners and captains right down to the people in the water.
‘Regardless of government policies relating to overcrowding or any other decisions like that, the people on the front line who are getting wet can do things that are right and this will help ensure sustainability,’ he said.
Mr. Layman is also against the photographing of the rays that are taken out of the water. ‘I refuse to take a picture of a ray out of the water. I do not want these pictures going out to all corners of the world, sending the message that this is how we treat our marine life in the Cayman Islands,’ he said. He urges all owners and operators to insist that their crew members do not take the rays out of the water, and for photographers and videographers not to shoot them out of the water.
‘We are putting more pressure on Stingray City now than ever in the past; there are more boats and more tourists every day on the sand bar. If we are to continue to benefit from this wonderful and unique natural resource we must start now to treat the rays better.’
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