NEWS & INFORMATION

STINGRAY FEEDING SUMMARY MAY 4 – MAY 31 2020

STINGRAY FEEDING SUMMARY

REPORT WEEKS #5 – #8.

MAY 4th– MAY 31st 2020

 

Following on from the previous Stingray Feeding Summary Reports #1 April 4-8,  #2 April 9- 19 , #3 and #4 20th April – May 3rd, the DoE continues to assume responsibility for the ongoing and regular supplemental feeding and human interaction at Sand Bar Stingray City.  As previously stated the DoE has committed to continue to reinforce the rays association between boats/humans and food with a regular feeding schedule until marine curfew restrictions are relaxed and the private sector can resume visiting the site.

 

The following brief report incorporates the details of feeding efforts and ray presence at the Sand Bar Stingray City between 4th May and 3sr May 2020.

 

DAILY FEEDING AND MONITORING REPORT:

 

  1. Between Saturday 4th April 2020 and Sunday 31st May 2020 – between 10 – 1 PM each day, the DoE fed approximately 5 – 20 lbs of appropriate food to rays present at the Sand Bar.

 

  1. A standardized protocol was adopted and remains the same from the previous report:
    1. The DoE vessel approached from the south and circled the Sand Bar and then proceeded to the reef crest traveling west for 400 meters and then returned to the Sand Bar to anchor in the centre with the engine running in neutral.
    2. The number of rays present was immediately recorded.
    3. Prepared food was distributed for 10 minutes and then the number of rays present was recorded.
    4. Food was distributed for an additional 20 minutes and rays were counted again and an in-water feeding activity was then conducted for approximately 10 minutes of constant stingray/human contact.
    5. A final stingray count was conducted prior to departure.
  2. An updated summary of recorded ray presence is provided:

 

WEEK 5
May 4 – May 10
Max: 30 Min: 19
Week food: 74 Lbs / Cum: 430 lbs
Week Time/Total Time (HH:MM): 7:30/35:44
Mon 4th May Tues 5th  May Wed 6th  May Thu 7th May Fri 8th May Sat 9th May Sun 10th  May
Rays present on Sand Bar at arrival 8 14 17 17 10 14 14
Rays present after 10 minutes of feeding 20 18 22 22 20 19 18
Rays present after 30 minutes of feeding 23 28 29 24 23 19 22
Maximum rays observed on visit 23 30 27 24 23 19 24

 

WEEK 6
May 11 – May 17
Max: 22 Min: 20
Week food: 82 Lbs / Cum: 512 lbs
Week Time/Total Time (HH:MM): 6:07/41:51
Mon 11th May Tues 12th  May Wed 13th  May Thu 14th May Fri 15th May Sat 16th May Sun 17th  May
Rays present on Sand Bar at arrival 9 14 14 15 15 10 20
Rays present after 10 minutes of feeding 18 18 18 22 22 20 22
Rays present after 30 minutes of feeding 21 21 20 22 15 17 19
Maximum rays observed on visit 21 21 20 22 22 20 22

 

WEEK 7
May 18 – May 24
Max: 29 Min: 20
Week food: 95 Lbs / Cum: 607 lbs
Week Time/Total Time (HH:MM): 3:50/45:41
Mon 18th May Tues 19th  May Wed 20th  May Thu 21st May Fri 22nd May Sat 23rd May Sun 24th  May
Rays present on Sand Bar at arrival 13 26 20 16 16 15 15
Rays present after 10 minutes of feeding 23 27 NR 21 28 20 20
Rays present after 30 minutes of feeding 0 28 29 21 28 NR 20
Maximum rays observed on visit 23 28 29 21 28 NR 20

 

WEEK 8
May 25 – May 31
Max: 28 Min: 16
Week food: 72 Lbs / Cum: 679lbs
Week Time/Total Time (HH:MM): 5:20/51:01
Mon 25th May Tues 26th  May Wed 27th  May Thu 28th May Fri 29th May Sat 30th May Sun 31st  May
Rays present on Sand Bar at arrival 20 10 4 16 20 22 20
Rays present after 10 minutes of feeding 23 22 16 23 24 28 26
Rays present after 30 minutes of feeding 23 25 10 23 21 28 26
Maximum rays observed on visit 23 25 16 23 24 28 26

 

OBSERVATIONS:

 

  • To date the DOE has visited the Stingray City Sand Bar to feed the rays every day since the April 4th feeding and interaction programme began – no days have been missed despite inclement weather.
  • We have conducted 51 visits in 51 days.
  • We have accumulated over 51 hours at the Stingray City Sand Bar site, not including travel and preparation time.
  • We have fed the rays an accumulated 769 lbs of natural food to date.
  • Rays continue to remain habituated to feeding and human interaction and appear consistently upon arrival.
  • The same rays are not present each day indicating the likely rays remaining in the area and associated with the Stingray City Sand Bar attraction is greater than the daily maximum counts suggest. Based on the sightings of easily identifiable rays (Frisbee, Big and Little Notch) initial indications suggest that there are an additional 10 – 20 rays that do not appear on each occasion.
  • Injuries in rays are still observed, despite reduced boat traffic.
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