Stingray Enrichment!
I’ve been working with the cownose rays at the Shedd Aquarium as a volunteer these past few weeks and it’s been interesting becoming familiar with some of the individuals. There’s quite the range of personalities and a hierarchy when it comes to feeding times.
Cownose rays, or Rhinoptera bonasus, have a large distribution as they have been seen from New England of the United States down the Atlantic to the southern edge of Brazil. They largely consume clams and scallops using a modified subrostral fin to help identify and forage for food.
This enrichment activity above is to see if the cownose rays can forage for the mussels, which are sustainably purchased through the Aquarium, in the plastic hard hat. The first time the hard hat was placed in the water, I observed very strong reactions that involved splashing and fast turns swimming away from the hat. They have definitely warmed up to the hard hat now although I’m sure the little bribe of their favorite food is extremely helpful *wink.*
By the end of the enrichment session, two of the females creeped right up to the edge of the helmet and gobbled up the mussels! Using their flat, thin, and elongate molars, they crush the mussels and slurp all the inside goodies before spitting the shell pieces out.