Stunning Stingrays in Key Largo

As part of our ‘creatures we see series’ this page is dedicated to stingrays that we have seen on the Key Largo reef

Stingrays are a regular sight on the reef but are often buried in the sand and hard to see.

When you do find them they are often spooked and head off right away

This video shows a mum and baby caught on camera at Horseshoe Reef.

Heres a snippet of a stingray and a little yellow tail

Stingrays start off small and can grow up to 2 or 3 feet across and we see all sizes of them on our dives.  Like most ocean creatures they are not dangerous if left alone!

Skates

We have included this section on Skates as they look similar to rays.

There are though a number of differences.

They are generally smaller that rays

Skates have no sting in the tail

Reproduction is different where rays give live birth and skates lay eggs in a purse

One of the main predators for Stingrays and Skates are sharks and on the Key Largo Reef it seems to be mainly Nurse Sharks.

This video shows the start of a tussle between a little skate and a larger Nurse shark.  The shark is starting to chase down its prey!

The Tussle continues with the Nurse Shark on the hunt but keeps loosing the scent of the little skate

Stingrays

This cool video was taken on Elbow Reef. A large Stingray appears from along the channel we are diving in and comes directly towards us. It must have been buried in the sand up the channel as you can still the sand falling off. It sees the diver and turns right in front of our Dive Master for this great shot!

Mark this page for more videos to come shortly!