Scuba Diving Tourism Decreases At Popular Cayman Attraction

Ever since the tragic and unfortunate death of world renowned "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, one of the most popular dive sites in the world has seen an alarming drop in tourism - Stingray City in the Cayman Islands. Steve was killed when the barb from a stingray pierced his heart, in an extremely tragic and exceedingly rare accident, and now bookings are down over 60% at the popular Cayman Islands tourist attraction for both experienced and beginner Scuba Divers.

Which is unfortunate, because Stingray City in the Caymans offers one of the great opportunities to see wildlife on the planet and interact with these normally docile and non-aggressive creatures. Steve Irwin's death affected many of us in the Scuba Diving and naturalist community, but Mr. Irwin himself would be the last one to say that people should stop enjoying opportunities to experience wildlife in its natural habitat because of it. As in any popular dive location there are good dive operators and ones not so good. The best of the tour operators offering Stingray Experiences at Stingray City or the Sandbar are those that take the safety of the scuba divers and of the RAYS very seriously. These are operators who are considered Stingray Friendly and take great efforts to protect both divers and rays. A list of these operators can be found at http://www.stingraycity.org/

Stingray City is an area on Grand Cayman where rays congregate in a natural channel that passes though the barrier reef. In part of the channel you can stand in 3 feet of water as the Rays dart about your feet, at the deepest point you can snorkel or dive among them in about 12 feet. Unlike certain other Stingray dives that have been artificially created with penned in rays, this is still seeing the rays in their natural environment, even though they have been conditioned to expect humans t o feed them, but that is all part of what allows you to get up close to these truly fascinating and docile creatures. Rays have had a time with their reputation, they look a bit alien and prehistoric, they have names like Stingray and Devil Ray, and they can be harmful. Mr. Irwin's unfortunate and extremely rare accident - there have only been 17 deaths by Stingray ever recorded in the entire world - has once again given them a bad name. The truth is that the rays at Stingray city have much more to fear from the humans then visa versa, and it is abuse of rays that has finally prompted Cayman officials to recently enact protection legislation of the Rays in Stingray City and Sandbar making it illegal to hold or take a ray out of the water for any reason. Responsible dive operators in the area clearly instruct divers how to approach and how not to approach the rays. The two sites actually have a very good safety record, thousands upon thousands dive and snorkel among the rays each year and there have been very few accidents. And those that have in the rare instance been harmed by a ray probably did something they should not have to antagonize it. Rays are entirely non-aggressive but will react to protect themselves if a someone try's to pull its tail or take a ride on it - the same could be said for the family dog.

We all mourn the loss of one of wildlife's best friends, but we should not let those tragic events keep people form having what can be one of a scuba diving's most exhilarating experiences