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Temp: Surf 28°C Bottom 28°C
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Dive type : Recreational
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Visibility: Good
Water: Salt
Data provided by EOL.org
Species Identified
Dasyatis americana Hildebrand and Schroeder, 1928 (stingaree)
The southern stingray is an active swimmer that feeds primarily at night, on a diet of invertebrates and small fishes. They feeding by flapping their wing-like pectoral fins to disturb the sand, and expose their prey . T...
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The southern stingray is an active swimmer that feeds primarily at night, on a diet of invertebrates and small fishes. They feeding by flapping their wing-like pectoral fins to disturb the sand, and expose their prey . This bottom-dwelling species is often found singly or in pairs, except in the summer months when it migrates in schools to higher latitudes . Very little is known about the natural mating behaviour and reproductive biology of the southern stingray. Mating stingrays are rarely encountered in the wild; during one such rare occasion, the male was observed closely following the female, and then biting her before grasping the female's pectoral fins with his mouth, and then copulating. It is thought that southern stingrays are polyandrous, as a female was observed mating with two males in quick succession . The southern stingray is ovoviviparous, a method of reproduction in which the egg develops within the female's brood chamber. The pups hatch from their egg capsules inside the mother, and are born soon afterwards . In captivity, gestation lasted 135 to 226 days, after which a litter of two to ten young were born .
Acanthocybium solandri (Cuvier, 1832) (Barracuda)
Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre, 1788) (Nurse shark)
During the day the nurse shark is a sluggish animal, spending most of its time resting on sandy bottoms, or in crevices in rocks and coral reefs. Often several nurse sharks may congregate when resting, sometimes even pili...
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During the day the nurse shark is a sluggish animal, spending most of its time resting on sandy bottoms, or in crevices in rocks and coral reefs. Often several nurse sharks may congregate when resting, sometimes even piling on top of one another . At night however, the nurse shark actively roams the sea bottom and reef for prey. It feeds on bottom invertebrates such as spiny lobsters, shrimps, crabs, sea urchins, squid and octopi . It is also feeds on fish, its nocturnal nature enabling it to prey on resting fish that would be too active during the day to capture . The nurse shark's small mouth and large pharynx enable it to feed by a unique suction method, effectively making the nurse shark the 'hoover' of the ocean floor. By cupping its mouth over a hole or crevice and expanding its throat, it creates a vacuum that sucks prey out of their hiding . This suction-feeding is also useful for extracting snails from their shells , and it will dig in sand to root out prey sensed by its fleshy barbels . The nurse shark is one of few sharks in which courtship behaviour is relatively well known . The male swims alongside the female, grabs one of the pectoral fins in his mouth, rolls her over and they mate . A large number of males will often try to mate with a single female, and females often bear numerous bite-scars and bruises received during mating attempts. It is therefore not surprising that females frequently try to avoid males by swimming in very shallow water, where they can bury their pectoral fins in the sand . Nurse sharks are ovoviviparous , a method of reproduction whereby the young develop inside a weakly-formed egg shell within the mother, receiving nourishment from their yolk sac, for five to six months . The females move to shallow seagrass beds and coral reefs to give birth to 20 to 30 pups in late spring and summer . Like many sharks the nurse shark is slow growing, with males not reaching maturity until 10 to 15 years of age, and females 15 to 20 years .
Carcharhinus melanopterus (Quoy and Gaimard, 1824) (blacktip reef shark)
This powerful swimmer is well known for its tendency to enter incredibly shallow water, and is often found in water only 30 centimetres deep or less, with its distinctive dorsal fin protruding from the surface of the water...
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This powerful swimmer is well known for its tendency to enter incredibly shallow water, and is often found in water only 30 centimetres deep or less, with its distinctive dorsal fin protruding from the surface of the water. It is also found near the bottom or in mid-water in deeper water, singly or in small groups . It feeds on a wide variety of small fish and invertebrates, including mullet, groupers, wrasses, cuttlefish, squid, shrimp . Blacktip reef sharks are viviparous, and therefore the embryos develop inside the mother, for about 16 months. Females generally give birth between late winter and early summer, to between two and four pups . However, reproductive cycles appear to vary throughout the blacktip reef shark's range, with reports of annual, biannual and biennial reproductive cycles . The blacktip reef shark is not an extremely dangerous species, although it is responsible for several provoked and unprovoked attacks on humans. Many are on people that are swimming or wading on reefs, presumably because they were mistaken for small prey. These sharks are more cautious when encountering divers and can usually be driven off .
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Rob Bouwman
Netherlands Antilles
Date: 2006-05-23 - 10:29
Max Depth: 29.1m Duration: 18mins
Dive with Saba Divers
Bootduik