Stingray City offers visitors to interact with dozens of tame(-ish) stingrays. Allowing kids and adults to jump in the water with frozen morsels hoping to attract the creatures, Stingray City is a great opportunity for people to experience the marine world up close. Of course, some people worry that the practice is destructive. To that end, Cayman's Marine Conservation Law was amended recently to provide increased regulation of activities at Stingray City and in other Wildlife Interaction Zones. Among other things, the amended law will help regulate:
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the amount and type of food fed to rays.
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the number of tourist boats that can access the zone at specified times.
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the number of passengers that can be carried to any specific area.
Clearly, the law aims to lessen the human impact on the rays. Ironically, though, Stingray City is not the rays' natural habitat; rays were attracted to the area by fishermen cleaning their boats.
Of course, some people oppose the new restrictions. According to Captain Eugene Ebanks, "Whoever concocted [the Bill] did not have the best interests of the Watersports Industry at heart." Ebanks fears the proposed regulations will create economic hardships for tour operators and dive companies. While overcrowding at Stingray City might've been a problem in the past, lately it seems that bookings at Stingray City have plummeted, so I wonder if this is an attempt by officials to improve the site's over-the-top eco-friendly image.
[Thanks, Doc Jelly!]
