Rays and Sharks Cruise Caribbean Cove at the Saint Louis Zoo

In a sure sign that warm weather is finally here to stay, the popular stingrays, like the swallows to Capistrano, have returned to Caribbean Cove at the Saint Louis Zoo.

"It’s really become a favorite exhibit for people who look forward to the return of the stingrays every year and what new surprises we have," said Louise Bradshaw, the zoo’s director of education. "And this year, we have sharks."

Stingrays at Caribbean Cove featuring Sharks opens Saturday. In addition to 30 cownose rays and five southern stingrays, two nurse sharks, two bonnethead sharks and two white-spotted bamboo sharks will also cruise the warm waters of the cove. Visitors familiar with the exhibit from previous years are excited about its return, Bradshaw said.

"I was just walking across the grounds yesterday, behind some visitors, a little incognito, and this family said, ‘Oh, the stingrays. Oh, it doesn’t open till this weekend--I can’t wait.’ We’ve gotten a lot of feedback. A lot of people are anxious--‘When is it opening? When can I come? Who’s going to be there?’ And when we closed at the end of the season last year, we had people who actually came on the last day to say goodbye and wanted to know exactly when they were going to come back."

That wait is over, and visitors can see these ocean dwellers as they navigate a 17,000-gallon saltwater pool located under a pavilion near Lakeside Café. The sharks and rays are all tropical or semitropical creatures, Bradshaw said, which is why the exhibit doesn’t open until spring and closes September 25, before the return of colder weather. The water is kept at a temperature of 78 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and oxygen and salinity levels are carefully monitored to duplicate a natural ocean environment.

This is, to a certain extent, a hands-on exhibit. Visitors will line up to enter the open air pavilion and view the sharks, rays and horseshoe crabs from above. But, after washing their hands, people will be allowed to get closer.

"They come around a low pool and lean over the edge, and you can actually put your hand in the water," Bradshaw said. "The stingrays, in particular, are very social and interactive. They’ve been trained to come up and nuzzle your hand, and you can actually run your hand over their back. The sharks are not as social and interactive, but I was just checking on them a few minutes ago, and they’ve been hanging right at the edge of the wall of the pool, on the bottom, You can easily reach down with one finger and gently feel their back and feel their skin. It works out fine--they’re very comfortable with that."

So are the members of the zoo staff.

"We’re excited to introduce sharks to our visitors this year," said Dr. Jeffrey P. Bonner, Dana Brown president and CEO of the Saint Louis Zoo. "Connecting people with wildlife is an important part of our mission. Not everyone in our part of the world has had the chance to get in touch with ocean life in such a close-up, intimate way."

The three species of sharks in the exhibit are harmless, unless you’re a crustacean, mollusk or fish.

"Of those three, people are more familiar with nurse sharks, possibly from snorkeling in the Caribbean," Bradshaw said. "Nurse sharks can get to be really quite large, but ours are really little. We have one that’s about 2 feet, and another one that’s just maybe 3 feet. They’re still little guys--juveniles. Nurse sharks are bottom-feeders, so they’ll be looking for shrimp and crabs and clams on the surface of the ocean floor, kind of snuffling along."

Nurse sharks can also rest on the bottom, unlike most sharks, which have to constantly swim to keep oxygen-bearing water flowing through their gills.

"(Nurse sharks) don’t have to swim on a regular basis," Bradshaw said. "They have what are called spiracles, that sort of work like our nostrils. So they can bring in water across their gills by opening and closing their spiracles to get oxygen out of the water--much like we would breathe--while they are just sitting there resting."

The bamboo sharks can also breathe in this fashion, but they will be easy to distinguish from the nurse sharks.

"Bamboo sharks are sometimes also called cat sharks," Bradshaw said. "They have little barbels, a lot like a catfish. And they use those to help sort of smell their way around the ocean floor looking for their food."

The bonnethead sharks, the smallest members of the hammerhead shark family, look like their larger cousins. They have a semi-circular head resembling a shovel or a bonnet.

"The end of their head sort of protrudes, and the eyes are on the sides, but the front part of it is curved a little bit more than a hammerhead shark," Bradshaw said. "They are the type of shark that does not have spiracles, and they need to keep moving all the time. So they’ll be swimming around a lot in the tank."

The best bet for a close encounter will be the cownose rays.

"The cownose rays are the ones that are extremely social, and they school in large groups," Bradshaw said. "And if you happen to be lucky enough to be in the exhibit when the keepers are feeding the rays, for an extra dollar, you can purchase a cup of raw shrimp and fish and feed the rays. It’s really kinda fun."

The cove is a controlled environment, so there will be no live fish or shrimp and no active hunting by the cove residents. The keepers will feed the sharks, which visitors can watch, but the rays are trained to take their meals from anyone.

"You just hold a piece of shrimp in your hand, palm up, with your hand down in the water, and the cownose rays just swim over your hand," Bradshaw said.

The feeding is quite gentle.

"If you’ve ever petted a horse’s nose, or fed a horse a carrot, you know they have really big, soft lips," Bradshaw said. "The cownose rays, their mouth feels like that, so you have that soft feeling, and they suck the piece of shrimp right out of your hand."

Interpreters will be available to discuss the cove dwellers’ behavior and natural habitat and answer questions.

"What we hope, and what has proven to be the case, is that people would learn something about these wonderful animals," Bradshaw said.

The personal encounters with the rays and sharks will enable visitors to "connect more with them, to be interested in them, and to care about them," Bradshaw said. "This gives us a great opportunity to talk to our guests about some of the problems that animals like this face in the wild. Our marine systems, oceans around the world, are under increasing threat from a variety of different reasons. Pollution is a really big one, (and) overfishing is a real problem."

Bamboo shark populations in the wild are dropping due to overfishing, but the bigger issue is that the species the sharks and rays eat are being overfished. Guests are encouraged to protect sharks and rays by choosing "sustainable seafood" when they dine out or go to the market. Fish are divided into three categories: red for not sustainable, yellow for proceed with caution and green for fish that are farmed responsibly. Chilean sea bass and swordfish, for instance, are in the red category, while tuna and shrimp are yellow. The red list is the real danger zone.

"The fisheries for those species, by and large, are really not sustainable," she said. "These are species that are being overharvested, overfished, they’re not managed carefully, and there’s a real risk of that particular species crashing. They’ve been overharvested beyond nature’s ability to keep going, and there’s not enough reproduction to make up for it. So we suggest that people choose to not eat those species."

A more thorough sustainable seafood list is available at the zoo’s website or download the Midwest Seafood Watch Card from Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Bradshaw has snorkeled in the waters of the Caribbean and the Galapagos Islands, and has seen coral reefs--an essential part of a healthy ocean environment--dying from pollution, erosion runoff and increasing water temperatures. Part of protecting creatures like sharks and rays involves protecting the world they live in.

"(Being there), you have a strong sense of how delicate and fragile (these environments) are, and how easily disturbed they can be," she said.

The educational aspect of the Caribbean Cove exhibit is intended to promote awareness.

"We want people to get excited, and to care about these animals and be really willing to make a difference," Bradshaw said.

Like the rest of the zoo residents, the sharks and rays have enrichment activities to keep them healthy and active. Items with different textures and shapes are placed in the water for the sharks and rays to investigate and nose around the enclosure. There are even plastic balls that keepers fill with food, and this can provide plenty of entertainment for the pool residents.

"There’s a lot that’s done with keeper care, as far as enrichment and training, that provides a lot of variety for them, as well as having the visitors there and having the opportunity to interact with the visitors," Bradshaw said. "That’s very enriching for them."

The zoo is packed with other options beyond the sharks and rays, Bradshaw said. Two baby zebras are now on display and the new sea lion enclosure is progressing. Family overnights are available during the summer, with the chance to go for a private night hike through the zoo grounds.

Admission

Admission to Stingrays at Caribbean Cove is $3 for the general public and $1.50 for Zoo Friends members. Children under two are free. Admission is free the first hour the Zoo is open. Stingray feedings are $1 per cup. Groups of 15 or more may call (314) 781-0900, ext. 4709 in advance for group discounts.

Hours

Stingrays at Caribbean Cove will be open April 23 through September 25, during zoo hours. The zoo’s spring hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through May 26. Beginning May 27 through September 5, the Zoo is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday for North Star Summer Zoo Weekends. 

The St. Louis Zoo is open throughout the year except for Christmas and New Year’s day. 

Take Interstate 70 to Highway 40 east. Take the Hampton Avenue/Forest Park exit (bear to the left at the light). At the first roundabout, circle back to the west on Wells Drive for the zoo’s south parking lot, or go north (straight) through the roundabout on Concourse Drive, then go left at the first street, which is Washington Drive. This passes the 1904 Flight Cage and Cypress Swamp. Turn left on the next street, which is Government Drive. This leads to the north parking lot.