The reverse side of ecotourism: slopes became tame, lazy and stopped hunting

In the Cayman Islands there is a wonderful place called Stingray City, which is very popular among ecotourism lovers. Travelers are attracted here by the opportunity to mingle with stingrays, swim, touch and feed these unusual marine life. But scientists are sounding the alarm: the fish are so accustomed to the easy way to get food that they are completely lazy, become passive and have changed many of their habits.

A small shallow bay off the coast of Grand Cayman, the largest of the Cayman Islands, is called the "city of stingrays" or Stingray City. Once, local fishermen cleaned fish in this bay, returning after going to sea. The remains of the fish caught the attention of the stingrays, who realized that they could get a free lunch here. Then entrepreneurial businessmen noticed this peculiarity and organized here one of the most popular places for ecotourism and communication with marine life. No one is cleaning the fish here anymore, employees of travel agencies bring it on their boats, and there are more and more stingrays every year.

But this circumstance is worried by scientists who believe that such a practice of dealing with stingrays does not bode well for them in the long run.

The fact is that wild stingrays are active at night and it is at night that they go hunting and absorb the bulk of the food. But the tourists' favorites quickly realized that they were fed well during the day, and now the slopes that live on the Stingray City shallows lead an exclusively daily life, preferring to rest at night after a hearty meal.

In addition to changing daily activity, another strangeness was outlined in the behavior of stingrays. In their natural habitat, these rays rarely gather in large groups in a limited area. In order to get their own food, they must hunt and travel huge distances every day. Well, in Stingray City there is no need to hunt, because the food brought by tourists is enough for everyone. For this reason, over 150 stingrays have accumulated here in a limited area. Although there is no need to talk about peaceful coexistence: scientists note in the behavior of stingrays an aggression towards fellow species that is not characteristic of this species, which arises from food competition.

In the behavior of stingrays, addicted to easy life, other oddities are noted. Now this flock does not have as such a breeding season, which was previously tied to the availability of food resources. Stingrays in Stingray City breed year round, because the tourist flow in the Cayman Islands is stable and has no pronounced seasonality.

In connection with this situation, biologists are seriously concerned. The lack of sufficient movement, the abundance of available food and the change of activity from night to day can negatively affect the health of fish and weaken their immunity. In addition, scientists believe that manual ramps are very vulnerable outside the bay, because they have no fear of people or boats. In the meantime, this wonderful world continues to exist, and it seems that everyone is incredibly happy: stingrays get food without any efforts on their part, and people get unforgettable emotions from communicating with them.