Positives and Negatives on Stingray Tourism, by Matthew Pluschau

Stingrays are fascinating creatures and well known marine organisms.  Therefore, they have become very popular marine life attractions for tourists.  People interested in interacting with wildlife as can be seen by the frequency of “touch tanks” at aquariums.  People of ages fondly recall going to these facilities and interacting though feeding and touching the stingrays.   This is one example of ecotourism that is increasing in tropical places that enables people to interact with wildlife at resorts or in the wild.  Such ecotourism can result in positive and negative factors for both stingrays and their ecosystem; however, I believe the negatives may outweigh the positives. 

Stingray City, Cayman Islands.  Dark images are Southern Stingrays Dasyatis americana Photo by D.J. Orth

            Ecotourism is arguably one of the most important factors involved in conservation efforts of not only endangered species, but also for biodiversity as a whole.  Ecotourism provides a hands-on, direct experience that enables people to interact with organisms and ecosystems that are in need of protection, and demonstrates how various conservation efforts are making a positive impact on saving the important and beautiful organisms and ecosystems of the world.  Ecotourism can even help humans, by fueling and promoting the economies of the local peoples in areas of successful ecotourism (Corcoran et al. 2013).  The Cayman Islands is one of the most popular places for stingray ecotourism and it has greatly increased the economic success of the area, so much in fact that it has helped create more locations throughout the Caribbean for stingray interaction with the public, which of course helps with the public knowledge and outreach of conservation efforts (Shackley 2010). 

            While stingray ecotourism has its benefits, there are many areas of concern that have been posed with regard to its popularity and its vast reach.  One major concern is the supplemental feeding of the stingrays by tourists.  It appears to be greatly affecting the behavior of the populations of stingrays.  In the wild, the stingrays are very active and search for food in the nighttime and are usually solitary, and don’t usually interact with other stingrays (Vaudo et al 2018).  This is very different than the image most people have when they think of stingrays, and this is because the stingrays that were fed by humans, rested at nighttime and were active during the day, and were frequently in close contact with other stingrays, which is quite opposite of their normal behavior and habits (Corcoran et al. 2013).  The attraction to these certain areas and during these times of day can potentially cause a lot of harm to the animals.  Increased injury is a large concern, since they will be around people when they are most active, boat related wounds are likely to increase in the rays (Shackley, M. 2010).  The rays all being in these close quarters rather than their spread out solitary life-style could also increase the spread and contraction of diseases and parasites (Semeniuk & Rothley 2008).  They could also cause an increase in inter-species competition, since they are congregating in an area in an unnatural way; they could be taking up the resources needed by other species (Corcoran et al. 2013). 

Tourists may handle the Southern Stingrays at Stingray City, Grand Cayman. Photo by Valerie Orth. 

            It is clear that there are both positives and negatives to ecotourism of stingrays; however, the negative effects have the potential to be so detrimental to the organisms and the ecosystem that the tourism needs to either be stopped or more intensely managed.  While ecotourism is a necessity for the continuation of conservation, the management and practices of it need to be reviewed, and further studies need to be conducted on its impacts on the ecosystem when it comes to stingrays.  The risk of harm to the ecosystem is too great to allow the current practices to continue.  With further management and restrictions, this may be a sustainable source of publicity for conservation efforts, but at its current state, it is too unhealthy for the ecosystem and the rays. 

References:

Corcoran, M. J. et al. 2013. Supplemental feeding for ecotourism reverses diel activity and alters movement patterns and spatial distribution of the Southern Stingray, Dasyatis americana. PLoS ONE 8

Shackley, M. 2010. Stingray City- Managing the Impact of Underwater Tourism in the Cayman Islands.  Journal of Sustainable Tourism 6

Vaudo, J. J. et al. 2018. Characterization and monitoring of one of the worlds most valuable ecotourism animals, the southern stingray at Stingray City, Grand Cayman.  Marine and Freshwater Research 69

Semeniuk, C., & Rothley, K.  2008. Costs of group-living for a normally solitary forager: Effects of provisioning tourism on southern stingrays Dasyatis americana. Marine Ecology Progress Series 357, 271-282