Stingrays – Six Less Known Facts can make Private Stingray City Tour interesting

If you are not sure about stingrays, we don’t blame you. They are habitually depicted as a lethal, merciless creature that uses their poisonous tails like a killing weapon. What many people don’t know is that they are utterly adorable as well. There’re also many other surprising facts that you should know about these creatures before planning a private stingray city tour. Let’s talk about these facts a bit briefly.

Stingrays Are A Species Of Fish:
Though they might not look like the finned friends that you can have in your aquarium at home, but stingrays belong to a species of fish known as elasmobranchs. There’re nearly 200 diverse stingray classes in total.

Stingrays Have Been There For A Long Time:
Fossil records discovered about the first stingrays date back to nearly 150 million years ago (the Lower Jurassic Period). By the Paleocene Era just hundred million years afterward, all major taxa of rays had been established. The fossils of stingrays are hard to come by because of their absence of bones, and some of the only proof they have left behind are teeth and scales.

Stingrays Are Born Fully-Formed:
When an infant stingray is born, it resembles the small versions of its parents. They’re completely proportioned & naturally great swimmers from birth. And this aids them to discover food in their own immediately, though mothers still stick there to offer defense until around age 3 or so.

Stingrays Are Great At Hiding:
Next time you opt for a stroll through the sea’s shallow water, keep in mind that stingrays spend a majority of their time concealed in the sand. Their stippled skin, varying from a light sandy tone to a dark brown, offers them the ideal mask to chill out on the ocean floor until an amazing meal comes their way. Also, it helps in keeping them concealed from predators like whales & hammerhead sharks. To incorporate an additional level of defense, stingrays will whip up the sand with the help of their wings while hiding themselves head-first.

Stingrays Are Not Characteristically Aggressive:
Stingrays normally act kind & gentle around humans. It is only when a stingray sense endangered that divers have a reason to be concerned. A top kid-friendly attraction in the Cayman Islands, Stingray City provides unique opportunities for visitors to interact with wild, friendly stingrays that have long been acclimated to humans.

Stingrays Are Closely Allied To Sharks:
Sharks and stingrays belong to the same species of cartilaginous fish. This entails that in place of bones, they are sustained by skeletons of osseous matter. Like sharks, stingrays employ sensors known as ampullae of Lorenzini to feel the electrical signals released by their prey. These sensors are placed around their jaws, and they balance the stingray’s poorly positioned eyes.

Conclusion:
Stingray City is the ideal place to get to know the gorgeous fish that populate Cayman’s waters, within their own natural home. Whatever your reasons for visiting, it’s certain that your day out at Stingray City tour will become a memory that you’ll treasure for years to come.

This article is written by Crystal Charters - a reputable private boat charter company operating in the Cayman Islands.