I used to feed the fish. But then I found out that it makes them lose their appetite, then they stop eating algae, then the algae overgrows and smothers the coral. So now I won't feed any animal without doing my research first.
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is it ok to feed stingrays?
- Thread starterLil Dragonfly
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
, There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
A good rule of thumb : Don't feed anything to any living thing, don't touch anything as much as possible. Underwater (and everywhere else) if you care about the environment, you try to have zero impact : the area is the same after you leave as before, for the faune and the flora. Some people might think it is a bit extreme, but then you have all your bases covered and you are doing your best (best would be not to get there in the first place but not diving ... huuuuu..)
And think twice before asking questions when you could have easily guessed an answer based on what you already know (it definitly feels like you are throwing random posts at the forum just to get activity ) : you know feeding algea eating fish has some sort of impact in the long run on the coral reef. A safe guess would be that feeding stingrays will have an impact on faune or the flora on the long run.
And think twice before asking questions when you could have easily guessed an answer based on what you already know (it definitly feels like you are throwing random posts at the forum just to get activity ) : you know feeding algea eating fish has some sort of impact in the long run on the coral reef. A safe guess would be that feeding stingrays will have an impact on faune or the flora on the long run.
I see one of the UK newspapers had Steve Irwin's obituary repeated this week (4th anniversary 
). The story of the world famous Crocodile Hunter's sad and untimely death - by stingray - should provide a stark warning for others:
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | 'Crocodile Hunter' Irwin killed
[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin]Steve Irwin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnSegu4A5Uc]YouTube - Steve Irwin Death Video **Official Footage**[/ame]
Not sure about 'feeding fish' from outside of the water - ground-baiting/burleying/chumming/rubby dubby is pretty common practice for freshwater and sea anglers. Normally best to show wild animals respect by leaving them alone. That said, I put out bird-feeders over winter.
BTW I had a rather long encounter with a large seal while spearing last week. Almost as big as me, it shadowed me for more than 30 minutes - nibbling my fins on two occasions. Quite playful but not something to mess about with. A surreal experience.
). The story of the world famous Crocodile Hunter's sad and untimely death - by stingray - should provide a stark warning for others:BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | 'Crocodile Hunter' Irwin killed
[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin]Steve Irwin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnSegu4A5Uc]YouTube - Steve Irwin Death Video **Official Footage**[/ame]
Not sure about 'feeding fish' from outside of the water - ground-baiting/burleying/chumming/rubby dubby is pretty common practice for freshwater and sea anglers. Normally best to show wild animals respect by leaving them alone. That said, I put out bird-feeders over winter.
BTW I had a rather long encounter with a large seal while spearing last week. Almost as big as me, it shadowed me for more than 30 minutes - nibbling my fins on two occasions. Quite playful but not something to mess about with. A surreal experience.
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stingrays are about as dangerous as puppy dogs, as for negative effects on them the main danger is that they will in areas they are fed regularly want to approach humans and some of those humans wish them harm I've been told of spearos in the bahamas for example wiping out whole populations because the rays swim right up to them thinking they are a tourist offering food they then punch them with cookie cutters and sell the meat as scollops to seafood resteraunts.
Not true 100% of the time (creating artificial reefs, culling invasive species, touching trees, what have you).
Not the best option! Dive tourism creates an economic incentive to protect the environment.
Public library? Barnes and Noble will let you sit there all day long and charge ya nothing.
I feel your posts can border on the extreme at times and you'll enjoy life a whole lot more by stepping back and relaxing a bit.
That said, yes stingrays can be very peaceful, I grew up on a river with mudflats which was filled with them. (Tweed River for those who know the area) And I have never had any issues with them, and have stood on two. Well, stood on one, and got tackled by one when playing some mudflat football, and have never been stung.
BUT, one killed Steve Irwin, and there are a lot of injuries from them, so even I, with my countless good experiences with them, will never call them harmless.
That said, yes stingrays can be very peaceful, I grew up on a river with mudflats which was filled with them. (Tweed River for those who know the area) And I have never had any issues with them, and have stood on two. Well, stood on one, and got tackled by one when playing some mudflat football, and have never been stung.
BUT, one killed Steve Irwin, and there are a lot of injuries from them, so even I, with my countless good experiences with them, will never call them harmless.
This is the definition of "rule of thumb" : a rule you feel you can safely apply to most of the cases. Of course, there will be exceptions.
You missed the point, the important part was "no impact". Lets list some examples to make things crystal clear.
No or low impact things to do :
- touching the trunk of a big solid tree
- bitting on a rock
- not trying to touch animals or natural life
Things to do that will definitely have a impact on the ecosystem you are visiting :
- feeding animals
- breaking things
- not thinking before you do or say something.
- throwing rocks at animals to make them move.
Here, you can print this list and put it on your fridge. As you encounter more situation where you feel you can't make a decision by yourself and need guidance, feel free to come here and we can all work an updating your list of "do and don't in the wildlife". ( like for example : "does it hurt the feeling of a tree when I pee on it !?" )
Yes right ! It is common sense that when you want to protect an area, you throw hundred of buses full of tourists at them. The Red Sea is a very good example of this method being super effective !
Next on Lil Dragonfly : " I read on the internet that breathing CO can help you relax, does cutting on my green tea consumption will cure my hair cancer as my doctor suggests !?"
Raph I find your arguments a bit simplistic and your attacks on Lil Dragonfly puerile.
If you don't like Lil's posts don't read them or delete them from your db page.
The case for feeding wildlife to encourage sympathy or raise awareness of an animal's plight is not black and white as you suggest, indeed some of the brightest minds in their respective fields debate this very subject.
The title of this thread was a valid question, please do not attack people because something does agree with your world view.
Dave.
If you don't like Lil's posts don't read them or delete them from your db page.
The case for feeding wildlife to encourage sympathy or raise awareness of an animal's plight is not black and white as you suggest, indeed some of the brightest minds in their respective fields debate this very subject.
The title of this thread was a valid question, please do not attack people because something does agree with your world view.
Dave.
Raph, I agree with you that the Red Sea and other areas where tourists "protect the environment" are far from their pristine conditions, but I think the point by LD is the following: think what the egyptian Red Sea might be today without the tourists. Most likely overfished by dragnets and bombs.
Of course then one has to consider also what is the damage to the general environment (i.e. our world) of flying in jumbo-loads of tourists for peanuts, but ... life is complicated.
Public library? Barnes and Noble will let you sit there all day long and charge ya nothing.
Yes, but the internet is so convenient. The US has been blessed by some stunning new libraries in recent years, in the Chicago & Seattle suburbs anyway. A pleasure to visit and a great resource. Actually the UK ones seem to have been well updated in recent years - although there is some controversy over whether they should be less book oriented(!). I loved visiting my local B&N in the US, there was one near my home. We spent a lot of time there drinking coffee, checking out the books and, sometimes, listening to live music or a story teller. There are an incredible number of book shops in and around Seattle & its suburbs (supposedly the highest density in the USA), and there are better bookshops for specialized/technical/postgraduate books and for bargains/rare books but B&N was cozy and relaxing. There is one 20 miles from where I live now in the UK but it is a little too busy and cramped to provide quite the same relaxed atmosphere.
I have a masters degree and used to teach book design at the university level, trust me any idiot can publish a book and they do- i.e. sarah palin, dr. phil etc. even in oceanograghy type books your talking about the latest trends in theory not nessesarily fact or even hard science, there is just as much rubbish in print as there is online its just a different media, nothing more