I stand corrected!!! PLEASE READ! Especially if you'll be snorkling.

[cws1966]

Hi,

We just got back from Grand Cayman and took the Stingray City and 2 stop snorkling tour with Capt. Bryan's on the Buccaneer. It was wonderful, but I must correct some info. that I posted several times on this board in response to various posts.

 

We brought dog biscuits to feed the fish and I recommended this in several of my posts. A fellow poster nicely pointed out that this is not a good idea and is actually illegal in some places. I did not know this and I certainly would not want anyone to do this based on my recommendation and have a problem or cause a problem for the marine life, SO I am pasting her reply to me here, so you can check it out for yourself. She included some links which gave information about why you should not feed the fish and also some awful incidents involving feeding of an eel - which was done on the very tour we took!!!! I know I always want to be informed before I go into a situation, so please take a minute to look at this info.

 

Here is the reply with the links:

 

cws1966,

 

I loved everything about your post, till you got to the last line. I've been a diver for years. The rays are different. These animals are used to hand feeding in the wild, but many divers are vehemently anti fish feeding. There are a ton of reasons for it and there are some good posts on the boards about it. Just as you would not feed bears in the wild, please don't take dog biscuits with you into the water to feed the fish. Small fish are adorable, but like a bear cub, when trained to expect to be fed, they grow and there have been instances of fish taking of the tip of divers fingers, or worse.

 

Good reasons not to feed fish, some with very serious consequenses, are outlined in posts in these threads:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...t=feeding+fish

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...t=feeding+fish

 

 

 

Rays at Stingray City are an exception for many of us. They have been fed there for over twenty years. Fish, in the wild, are like any other wild animal and should not be hand fed. I'm too tired to be articulate and some people get really grumpy and insist they do feed the fish, but not only is it a bad idea, in many areas, it's against the law and you will get fined, if caught.

[daldog]

Good job :D