Southern stingray pups are born in the Wings in the Water exhibit on a regular basis. Our divers quickly catch the newborns and move them to a behind-the- scenes area so they don’t end up as food for the larger rays. These juveniles are shipped to other accredited institutions around the country.
Southern stingrays have a gestation period of about six months. The eggs hatch within the mother’s body, and the pups, up to ten in a litter, average 9.5 inches across at birth and their “wings” are curled up – like crepes.
Wow really cool. I just learned that Southern stingrays can be found on sandy bottoms, over seagrass beds, in lagoons, and on the reef face from New Jersey to southern Brazil, throughout the Caribbean, and in the northern Gulf of
Mexico. They can be observed singly, in pairs, and in aggregations.