New Tampa zoo exhibit lets visitors interact with stingrays
Part of $125 million expansion with updated habitats
TAMPA — “I touched a stingray!” 8-year-old Theodore Grimes squealed at a recent visit to ZooTampa at Lowry Park. And after much trial and error, he also reached his hand deep enough in the water to get a cownose ray to slurp up a shrimp he held in his fingers.
“It was kinda slimy and its mouth was gummy,” the St. Petersburg animal lover said.
The newly opened Stingray Shores at ZooTampa expands and upgrades the former Stingray Bay, a habitat the zoo shut down in 2021 after a dozen stingrays died suddenly. It was later discovered that faulty pipes caused the rays to experience gas embolisms similar to the “bends” in human scuba divers.
The exhibit was gutted and all-new redundant systems and camera monitors and safety features were installed for the 16 cownose and Southern stingrays that reside there. They now have a home in a 30,000-gallon pool that is more than 60 feet long and 16 to 20 feet wide. The curving 4-footdeep basin has a sandy bottom and faux seagrass areas and rock hideaways for the rays to ensure the animals are comfortable, a zoo spokesperson said.
The new exhibit is part of an ambitious 20-year, $125 million expansion plan at the zoo that is bringing several new and updated habitats.
A low rock wall encircles the pool, allowing visitors to peer in and pet them — with two fingers and only on their “wings,” they are told. Visitors can also purchase fish to hand-feed the rays.
Also new is an in-water experience where you can actually get in the pool with the rays, held during two morning sessions before the exhibit opens to the public. Guests must be at least 48 inches tall, and those under 18 must have a paying adult participating with them. It costs $54.95-$59.95 for the 20-minute encounter.
The zoo let me try it out recently. After changing into a wetsuit, I slid into the water that is kept at 75 to 78 degrees. My guide Sydney Arney led a shuffle across the sand to a stone seat in waist-deep water where she and guide Julia Groeber teach visitors about the rays and their habits.
They did their best to reassure me as a number of rays brushed up against my legs like stray cats. Some rays even swam across my lap as my guides kindly calmed my jumpiness.
The zoo’s aim is to show that these are very gentle and curious creatures, Groeber said, and their notorious poisonous barbs that are as thin as a fingernail are regularly trimmed so they pose no risk to the visitors.
Some animal welfare advocates have criticized such exhibits, saying they allow the animals to be manhandled. But the zookeepers said Stingray Shores is purposely designed so that the rays have space to avoid human hands.
“They can choose the interaction and some do settle into the sand and keep to themselves,” said Katie King, the supervisor of aquatics and life support for the attraction. “But we also see how many of them will come right over to where the people are, and that’s their choice.”
To start things off for the in-water encounter, Arney scattered a number of clams across the sandy floor of the pool. I noticed how the rays crushed the clams in their jaws and spit out the shells to eat the soft body parts. It was my turn next.
After being assured that the rays have no interest in my fingers, I was handed a basket of capelin, a small fish in the smelt family. I was told to “hold it out like an ice cream cone” so the ray can swim over top and slurp up the fish as it passes by. The image of the crushed clam shells flashed before my eyes, and I’ll admit I often dropped the fish seconds before the ray was on top of my hand. But when I held it out, the ray sucked the fish up like a vacuum.
Many fun facts and lessons are sprinkled in during the experience — such as a group of stingrays is called a “fever” and they only use their barbs as a last-resort defense since they take months to grow back. I was given one of those mentally-stimulating dog toys to toss. It looked like a rubber ball with holes in it, and it was stuffed with fish. I could see how the rays worked on the puzzle to suck the fish out of the toy as an enrichment exercise.
When the exhibit opened for the day at 11 a.m., the Grimes family from St. Petersburg made a beeline for the gift shop to pay $6 for shrimp and capelin to feed the rays. Pro tip: The food sells out quickly and is replenished at the top of every hour, so time your visit accordingly if you want a tray of smelly fish.
Theodore’s mom Lianna Grimes, who works for the St. Pete Beach Public Library, loved the new exhibit, saying: “It’s a great way to teach people about these misunderstood animals.”
Signs all around reminded guests to shuffle their feet when at the beach to keep from stepping on a stingray.
“I hope this helps people not fear our wildlife,” Grimes said.