Stingrays at Caribbean Cove featuring Sharks
Open April 20-September 30, 2012
We're gettin' fishy with it! Stingrays and sharks are back for an encore!
It's a season-long pool party like no other in town starring some smooth operators – bonnethead, white-spotted bamboo and nurse sharks, cownose rays, southern stingrays and horseshoe crabs.
Watch, touch and occasionally feed the unique and fascinating stingrays, as they glide through a warm saltwater pool. The sharks and horseshoe crabs are a little too shy for petting, but you may be lucky enough to have one touch you briefly as it swims by.
Located under a new pavilion near Lakeside Cafe these ocean animals swim through a 17,000-gallon pool complete with waterfall and a lush surrounding landscape.
About the Rays
Our stingrays can't sting you. Staff will monitor the stingrays throughout the season to ensure no stingers exist. You'll be surprised at how gentle and graceful they are in the water, as they swim past your hands. At Stingrays at Caribbean Cove, their stingers or barbs are painlessly trimmed back just as fingernails are clipped.
Zoo interpreters will be on hand to assist visitors and share information on the animals and ocean conservation.
It's a Ray's Life
Cownose rays and southern stingrays are related to sharks and skates. They have a flat body, long pointed fins and a long whip-like tail. Stingrays are known for their stinger, but they are actually very docile creatures. Learn more about stingray anatomy.
Shark School
The Bonnethead shark is the smallest member of the hammerhead family. They have semi-circular heads resembling a shovel or bonnet. White-spotted bamboo sharks are known as "cat sharks" because the barbels, or sensory organs, near their mouths resemble cat whiskers. Nurse sharks have stout bodies with smoother skin than most other sharks. They can use their mouths like vacuum cleaners to suck up prey. See shark school to learn more about sharks.
Shy Sharks
The sharks at Stingrays at Caribbean Cove are small, shy and docile fish and pose no danger to humans. They range from two-and-a-half to four feet in length and are bottom-dwelling species that prey on small fish, crabs and invertebrates. Our visitors will not be feeding the sharks, but occasionally there may be an opportunity to be touched briefly by a shark as it swims by.
Crabby Friends
Along for the swim are horseshoe crabs, which are more closely related to spiders and scorpions than to true crabs. The horseshoe crab is a living fossil. It has been on the earth for 220 million years, longer than dinosaurs, and it survives today almost identical to its ancient ancestors.
Sustainable Seafood and Ocean Conservation
Though the cownose rays and southern stingrays are not currently endangered in the wild, other species of stingrays are. Stingrays and other ocean animals are often accidentally caught during commercial fishing for other fish. It's important that consumers purchase seafood from suppliers that farm or fish in ways that will ensure the long-term health of the world's oceans, rivers and lakes. Download a Midwest Seafood Watch card or pick one up at the Zoo for a list of recommended seafood choices (and those that are not recommended). Our stingrays eat fish that are sustainable, and so should you!
Horseshoe crabs are near threatened because of the popular practice of using them as bait to catch fish.
Here are a few other ways that humans can make a difference for ocean inhabitants:
- Dispose of waste properly and avoid using plastic bags -- it can all end up in the ocean.
- Conserve water and energy use.
- Recycle paper, plastic, aluminum and glass.
- Reduce the amount of chemicals used on lawn and garden.
Admission
$3.00 for general public
$1.50 for Zoo Friends members up to Zoo-Goer level
Members at the Family Level and above may use their Anywhere Plus passes for admission.
Children under two are free.
Admission is free the first hour the Zoo is open. See Hours, Prices & Directions for Zoo hours.
Feeding is $1.00.
Group Rates
(Advance reservations are required)
Group rate for 15 or more is available. Please call Group Sales at (314) 781-0900, ext. 4709.
School group rate for 15 or more is available. Please call School Group Sales at (314) 781-0900, ext. 4857 or 4566.
Sponsor
Stingrays at Caribbean Cove featuring Sharks is sponsored by Novus International, Inc.
Living Exhibits
Animal and veterinary care for the stingrays is supervised by a full-time exhibit supervisor and an assistant exhibit supervisor from Living Exhibits, a Las Vegas-based corporation that produces and manages interactive exhibits for zoos, aquariums and museums.
