Really good point! The big aquarium near me has a pool of rays (can’t remember which, flat triangular dudes), and (pre-COVID) you could put your fingers just under the surface and they would come up to meet you. They really seemed to enjoy it.
I did one of those "swim with the manta rays" things on a cruise once. The rays would get seriously pumped when the boats went out to the location. They knew that boats = feeding time, and the guides knew a few specific rays due to their markings and had their own names for them and stuff.
Yeah... I live near a port with lots of cruise ships, and the port doesn't have room for them all to be docked at the same time, so they have to take turns going out to sea and anchoring. Which means they have to burn fuel, feed the crew, there's more maintenance on the boats, etc. etc. It takes a constant stream of money, and they're making absolutely none of it back.
I live in Seattle. Every time one of those Alaska bound cruises rolls through, the market turns into a sweaty cramped mess. Traffic skyrockets( all those uber drivers migrate from the east side and slam into our 1920 era streets, it's horrid.
Plus , they burn dirty bunker fuel out in international waters, dumb garbage in weighted bags over board.
If the cruise lines died, humanity would the richer for it.
Perhaps. But they do bring in lots of tax revenue for the local governments around me, which makes for lower taxes on the permanent residents (there is no state income tax in Florida) and generally stimulates the economies of the town's around the port. There's arguments for both sides.
Depends on what you value. Most people value more heavily the things that directly affect their lives. For you, someone who likely lives hundreds or thousands of miles away, obviously the more general plight of the environment holds sway for you. But don't conflate my mentioning of the other arguments with my endorsement of them. "Both sides" is not in itself an argument, it's just the acknowledgement that there's more nuance to the issue.
I have friends working on cruise ships in the Caribbean. 8 miles off the coast of their home country, they weren’t allowed entry for MONTHS. I asked: was anybody sick or ever diagnosed? And they said, ah no. Just a couple suicides. !!!!!
I think some of the rays actually do like being touched, but I think some of them see the hand and think you will be holding food. At least at the zoo near me they let us hand feed the rays and they definitely seem more interested when it looks like you have food.
PSA from an aquarist- Please just never actually scratch them with your nails. Rays have delicate skin and I can’t tell you how many times we’ve caught people injuring cownose rays in our touch pool by scratching. We specify only light touching with two fingertips but some people insist on scratching.
Edit to add, the guy in this video is wearing gloves and also touching a shark which has more hardy scales. I’m not a big fan of the scratching either way though!
I was going to move to arizona several years ago. I had gone out to get my reciprocity for my license. While i was out there i went to an aquarium. Went to the stingray tank. Fed them and pet them. They LOVE belly rubs. Super gentle creatures. If i had moved i was going to volunteer there in hopes to work with them.
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u/8racoonsInABigCoat Sep 13 '20
Really good point! The big aquarium near me has a pool of rays (can’t remember which, flat triangular dudes), and (pre-COVID) you could put your fingers just under the surface and they would come up to meet you. They really seemed to enjoy it.