Animal Feed Presentation: Shark and Ray

LCDC Theme: Connection to Wildlife You can make a difference!

Presentation Theme: Sting rays and sharks are important to the local
ecosystem, which is why it is especially important to protect our
watersheds, beaches, and bays.
Take Away: You can protect sharks and rays by cleaning up trash along
the beaches, reducing pollution runoff from your homes and businesses,
and making smart consumer choices when it comes to purchasing seafood.
Learning Objectives:
Sting rays are benthic (bottom dwelling) species that only sting
to protect themselves; you can protect the ray and yourself by
doing the sting ray shuffle!
Sharks are important to the health of local ecosystems. We
should not be afraid of sharks, but instead seek ways in our daily
lives that we can protect local shark and ray species.
Shark populations are threatened by overfishing practices, plastic
waste pollution, and chemical runoff from our cities, businesses,
and homes.
People can make a difference by: (1) using the seafood watch
card when purchasing seafood at restaurants and supermarkets,
(2) cleaning up trash and reducing the amount of plastic used,
and (3) choosing to properly dispose of old paint, chemicals, and
oils from your car.
Biofacts: bat ray teeth model, bat ray barb, horn shark egg
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------General Information:
Sting Ray (general): Cartilaginous fish made up of cartilage the
soft material found in your nose and ears. Not all ray species
have stingers (for example the Manta Ray), but most do have
stingers. The stinger is a barb, varies in length, which injects
venom into the organism that is threatening the ray. Sting rays
are flat, with most living on the bottom of the ocean (benthic),
and typically burying themselves in the sand (exception is larger

rays like the pelagic rays found in open water). Due to their
behavior, most rays have a set of openings along the top of their
head called spiracles adapted for pumping water over their gills.
o Bat Ray: dark on top, defined head, and pointed fins that
look like the shape of bat wings (hence their common
name), very common off San Diego beaches
Size: wingspan can be up to 6 feet (1.8m); 210lbs
(95kg)
Diet: small bony fish, worms, snails, crabs, clams,
abalones
Interesting Fact: Bat ray teeth, like other rays, are flat
plates for crushing the hard exoskeletons of their prey.
They can lose their teeth and new plates move forward
to replace the ones lost.
o Diamond Ray: fairly large, dark colored ray, with a
diamond shaped body and minimally defined head
Size: wingspan of 1.5 3ft (0.5-1m)
Diet: benthic feeders on crabs, clams, worms and other
buried mollusks
Interesting Fact: Diamond stingrays will use their fins
to unbury their prey and a surge of jetting water to
dislodge the prey from the substrate.
o Round Ray: smooth round disk, small in size compared to
bat rays, colors range from tan to gray, most common
species found along San Diego shores
Size: average is 10inches; max is 22inches and less
than 3lbs
Diet: worms, shrimp, amphipods, clams, and other
small mollusks (snails)
Interesting Fact: The venom injected by a sting ray is
what causes the painful sting. If stung, boiling hot
water will help denature the proteins in the venom and
eliminate the pain.
o Shovelnose Guitarfish: flat body with two erect dorsal fins,
shaped like a guitar (or a shovel) hence their common
name, colors range from olive brown to light gray, tail

moves laterally like a shark

Size: 5.5ft (1.7m) in length
Diet: ambush predators small bony fish, clams, crabs,
and worms
Interesting Fact: Even though they have a body that
moves more like a shark, they are in fact a type of ray.
Their genus is Rhinobatis, which in Latin translates to
shark-ray.
Sharks (general): Also a cartilaginous fish, sharks are extremely
important to the marine ecosystem. Sharks have a long, torpedo
shaped body, with several fins on top and bottom (dorsal, pelvic,
anal), two pectoral fins and a caudal fin (tail). One feature about
sharks that is different from typical bony fish is their lack of a
swim bladder for buoyancy control. Instead sharks have oily
(lipid filled) livers to help them swim. Also, sharks are covered
in special scales called dermal denticles, tiny teeth-like scales
that help protect their skin and give them hydrodynamics.
Sharks are incredible hunters, with a sixth sense that can detect
electro-magnetic pulses from living organisms. However, sharks
are also very opportunistic feeders feeding on sick, dying, or
dead animals. This helps keep our ecosystems balanced and
healthy by ridding the ocean of diseased and weak organisms.
o Leopard Shark: streamlined body, medium sized shark,
dark grey-tan colors with very distinctive striping patterns
called saddles, typically a leopard shark has an average
of 14 saddles, triangular pectoral fins, and two dorsal fins,
an elongated lobe on the caudal fin
Size: 3.8 4.9ft (1.2- 1.5m); maximum recorded up to
6ft
Diet: opportunistic benthic feeders crustaceans,
octopus, squid, small bony fish, fish eggs, mollusks
such as clams
Interesting Fact: The Leopard Shark frequents the
coastal waters of California, arriving in large schools
close to La Jolla Shores, Mission Beach, and off
Oceanside during the summer. This is mostly due to

the fact that the females, who are pregnant, are

seeking warmer-protected waters to help with the
gestation.
o Horn Shark: a slender shark, they have rounded pectoral
fins and two dorsal fins with the characteristic horns in
front, they are typically a dark grey with spots, and their
head is blunt and square shaped
Size: up to 4ft (1.2m) in length
Diet: crustaceans, sea urchins, small fishes, molluscs
Interesting Fact: Their eggs are spiral shaped and made
out of keratin (the same material as our fingernails).
The female will lay 1-2 eggs and place them in a
rocky substrate or screw them into the sand for
protection. Gestation is about 6 9months.
o Swell Shark: round body with tapered caudal fin (tail), tan
and brown bands with some spotting pattern, broad pectoral
fins and two small dorsal fins
Size: 2.5 3ft (0.8m); maximum reported length is
3.5ft
Diet: nocturnal feeders - small bony fish, mollusks,
and crustaceans
Interesting Fact: Swell sharks get their name from a
defense behavior where the shark will ingest a bunch
of water in order to swell up and appear larger. They
have also been known to wedge themselves into rocks
and swell up to make it impossible for a predator to
pull them out.
o Grey Smooth Hound Shark: small shark along the bottom,
long slender body, large oval eyes, and very distinctive
triangular pectoral and dorsal fins, dusty tan to dark gray in
color.
Size: 3.5ft (1.2m) in length with a maximum of 5ft
(1.5m)
Diet: shrimp, worms, and small bony fish
Interesting Fact: The grey smooth-hound has
asymmetric blunt cusp teeth. These numerous teeth

make up the pavement-like jaw dentition

(Sturgeon): Not a shark, but very similarly designed sturgeons
are highly sought after for their meat. Bony fish typically have a
bony skeleton, scales, paired fins, a swim bladder and a two
chambered heart. There are over 30,000 species of bony fish in
both marine and freshwater ecosystems.
o White Sturgeon: not like any other bony fish they are
easily identified by their five rows of bony plates that run
laterally down their long body, they have a cartilaginous
skeleton and a long caudal tail similar to shark species, like
most sharks, white sturgeons also have sandpaper-like skin
Size: historically they grew up to 20ft (6.1m) and
weighed 1,800lbs (816kg); currently records indicate a
maximum length of 10ft(3m) and 400lbs (181kg)
Diet: shrimp, clams, crabs, worms, mussels, snails,
small bony fishes
Interesting Fact: White sturgeons are typically
freshwater fish, but have been known to survive in
brackish waters. Our sturgeon has adapted to the salty
ocean water and thrives in its habitat.
Major (Anthropomorphic) Threats to Sharks and Rays
o Global Warming chemistry changes in the ocean is
causing an unbalanced shift in ecosystems
o Wasteful Hunting Practices for fins (shark fin soup), gill
rakers, skin, body parts for medicinal purposes
o Commercial Fisheries by-catch of trawlers; entangled in
lost fishing gear, nets, and hooks; direct fishing of sharks
and rays; indirect overfishing of shark and ray prey species
o Habitat Degradation trawlers, boat traffic, pollution,
chemical runoff, degradation of nursery sites such as the
wetlands or tide-pools
o Pollution trash, debris, sewage and chemicals, plastic
pollutions, bio-magnification of pollution
Ways we can help
o Reduce: reusable bottles and bags to reduce plastics

o
o
o

production; consumer aware purchases that promote

products with less plastic; ban on plastic bags
Reuse: reusable bottles, bags, lunch sacs/containers, etc.;
recycling of plastics into usable arts, home dcor, etc.
Recycle: reduce waste that goes to landfills by recycling as
much as possible!
Pollution prevention: clean up trash near beaches, parks,
streets, drains, highways, etc.; properly dispose of
chemicals, oils from cars, and old paint; get car serviced
regularly to reduce leaks
Regulations: contact local legislatures to change boating
and fishing practices; donate to an organization that
promotes ecofriendly living and protection of threatened
and endangered species; write to congressman about
pollution and other legislation
Energy conservation: reduce energy use by turning off
lights and unplugging unused electronics or chargers;
reduce use of autos and other transports that pollute the
atmosphere and change the chemical makeup of our ozone
layer
Eco-conscious tourism: promote ecofriendly tourism and
support local economies when traveling abroad; participate
in a beach cleanup or other eco-friendly event abroad, etc.

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Outline:
Introduction
Welcome
Introduce yourself
Theme
Attention Grabber
Main Points
Why to Stick Around

Welcome to the 2:00 shark and ray fed! My name is ___ and I work (insert
department/job description). Before we get started with the feeding, I have
a question for you: how many of you by a show of hands are afraid of
getting stung by a sting ray or coming face to face with a shark? Well my
hope and goal for this presentation is to teach you a few things about
sharks and rays that will show you why we should appreciate these
cartilaginous fish a little more. Today we are going to have lots of fun
we are going to learn a little string ray number called the sting ray shuffle,

watch the sharks as they fly effortlessly through the water and learn some
very interesting facts about the different species present. Who knows,
maybe I will even inspire you a little to do something that will positively
impact these important species.

Body

Our first half of the presentation will be over here by the sting rays, and
Main Point 1: Sting then we will make our way to the larger pool where the leopard sharks can
be seen. If you look into the water you will see a variety of species of rays
Ray Shuffle
and sharks in the touch pool in front of you. Our aquarist today is ____
o Feeding
and she will be feeding the sting rays chopped up pieces of squid and fish,
o Rules
o General ray which mimics the typical diet these animals hunt in the wild. You will
adaptations notice that our aquarist(s) use a variety of techniques for feeding the
animals including tossing the food into the water or hand feeding specific
o Specific
individuals. This allows the aquarists to take careful note of which animals
species
are eating and which ones are not. Knowing the feeding behavior of our
o Stingray
animals helps us to care for them and ensure that each individual is
Shuffle
healthy.
Main Point 2: Sharks
are important to
At this time I do need to remind you, it is safe and okay to touch the sting
ecosystem
rays in the touch pool. However, please remember to use only one or two
o Local Shark fingers and gently touch the animals careful to avoid sensitive areas such
Species
as eyes, mouth and spiracles. For those of you that dont know spiracles
o Why not to are the openings behind the eyes that pump water through the rays body
be afraid
and over its gills. These are especially important in our ray species because
o Why they are they are benthic or bottom dwelling animals. If they tried to bring the
important water in through their gills they would probably suck up a lot of sand.
Main Point 3:
Hence, the adaptation of spiracles.
Threatened
o Threats
Lets talk about a few other adaptations. Notice the agile movement of the
fins on the stingrays body. Stingrays are in a group of fish that are made
o Seafood
Watch Card up of cartilage. Does anyone know where cartilage can be found on our
body? Why dont you point it out to your neighbor? Yes thats right,
o Plastics &
cartilage is the soft tissue found in our ear flaps and the bridge of our nose.
Pollution
So you can imagine how flexible those fins are it almost makes them
o Chemical
seem to fly through the water.
runoff
(watersheds)
Interestingly enough stingrays have flat teeth. These teeth help the ray to
grind up any hard shelled animals they might find in the substrate of the
ocean floor. Im holding up a model of a bat ray jaw. You can see the flat
plate-like teeth that I am talking about. Typically they swallow their food
whole. This is one of the reasons its safe to feed stingrays by hand. (Good
place to sell VIPs something like and if you would like an opportunity
to experience feeding sting rays, we offer VIP tours for guests to get up
close and personal with some of our baby bat rays in the back. Feel free to
ask me about the tours after the presentation concludes!)
Now stingrays are identifiably flat this is an adaptation that allows them
to hide in the sand along the bottom of the ocean. When resting, the rays
will gently move their pectoral fins around and stir up the sand essentially
burying their entire body in the sand. A well buried ray would be nearly
invisible except for the movement of those two spiracles continuously
pumping the water over their gills so they can get the oxygen they need. It
is this hiding behavior that gets us surfers, snorkelers, and beach goers in
trouble!

Stingrays get their name for the defensive technique of stinging predators
with a sharp, jagged barb and injecting protein-based venom that causes a
painful stinging sensation. Naturally, this sting is intended for predators
such as large fish and sharks that might try to eat the tiny rays. The reason
humans get stung, is because when we go to the beach we are not careful
where we step. If we step down on a resting ray they are going to
naturally react and defend themselves. There is a way we can avoid this
it is called the sting ray shuffle. It looks like a silly dance to me that goes a
little something like this (carefully demonstrate the stingray shuffle).
When you are at the beach, make sure you keep your feet on the ground
and shuffle the sand around. This will warn sting rays that you are
approaching and they will get out of your way. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle
(pause) and a shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. We are doing the stingray shuffle to
protect both the rays and ourselves!
Here at the Living Coast Discovery Center we try really hard to feature
local species that you could encounter while snorkeling or diving around
San Diego. The sting ray touch pool is no exception. Bat rays are the dark,
medium-sized rays with the pointed fins. Their fins, sometimes called
wings, resemble the wings of a bat hence their name. A full grown bat
ray can reach a wingspan of 6ft and weigh over 200lbs! The other dark ray
in here is the diamond ray obviously named for its shape. And you will
continue to notice a pattern with the round ray also named for its shape.
The round ray is the smallest ray, but it is also the most common found
around the beaches of San Diego and thus the number one cause of stings.
(If ever stung, simply place the wound in boiling hot water to help
denature the proteins in the venom and reduce the pain. And of course
keep the cut as clean as possible to reduce chances of infection).
The last ray in here does not have a stinger in fact it does not even look
like your typical sting ray. It is called a shovelnose guitarfish (point it out).
Again, scientists are clever with their naming. The shovelnose guitarfish is
shaped like a guitar and has a nose that is shaped like a shovel. (Other
species you can point out are the horn shark, horn shark eggs, and
Spanish mackerel).
Transition: Stingrays are important animals to local coasts. They eat lots of
benthic animals such as shrimp, crabs, clams, and worms. And they are an
important food source to larger fish and shark species. Speaking of sharks
it looks like our sharks are getting hungry, so we are going to move over
to the larger pool to feed that community. But before we do, does anyone
have any questions about the sting rays or the sting ray shuffle?
There are three large viewing windows to see the feeding of the sharks.
For those of you just joining us, my name is _____ and I will be pointing
out some key features of our Shark and Ray exhibit. You will notice our
aquarist _________ is carefully throwing their food into specific areas and
observing the behavior of the sharks as they feed to check for signs of
distress or injury. Most people expect there to be some kind of feeding
frenzy but that is not the way sharks hunt. They are much more graceful.
Sharks are incredible hunters thanks to various adaptations found on their
body. Just like their cousins the sting rays, a sharks skeleton is made out

of cartilage making them lighter and more flexible. To add to their speed
sharks also have a hydrodynamic body that is torpedo shaped also known
as fusiform. You will notice that most sharks have 1-2 dorsal fins, stiff
triangular pectoral fins on the side, and a two pronged caudal fin. Some
sharks, like tiger sharks and white sharks, are adapted for speed. Others
such as the leopard sharks and horn sharks in here rely more on
opportunity to hunt for their food.
Did you know that sharks have 6 senses? Not only can they see, smell, feel
vibrations, hear, and taste, but sharks can also detect electro-magnetic
pulses. Everyone put your hand over your heart did you know when your
heart beats it creates a small amount of electricity. The same is true for
other living organisms. Sharks can use there incredible sense to find small
fish hiding under rocks, crabs in a burrow, or an octopus camouflaging
with its habitat. All the sensory organs for this are called ampullae of
lorenzini and they are located around the nose and face of the shark.
How many of you believe that smell is a sharks best sense? Would you
believe me if I said there is actually one sense that is better? Yes their
sense of hearing. Sharks can hear the splashing of sick, injured, or
distressed animals from over a mile away! Now, if you walk away from
this presentation learning only one thing I want you to know this: sharks
are super important to our oceans ecosystem because they are lazy! Yes,
you heard me correctly sharks are lazy. They do not want to spend extra
energy chasing down healthy, strong individuals rather they want an
animal that is sick or injured because it is easier to catch. This helps
clean up our oceans, if you will. It keeps our ecosystems in check by
getting rid of the sick, dying, and diseased animals.
Because of this we want to help protect our shark species. Sharks are
incredibly threatened by our fishing practices due to their natural life
cycle. I will use two shark species as an example. Most sharks do not have
hundreds of thousands of babies like bony fish. Rather, they invest more
energy into having only one or two pups at a time. Take for instance our
horn shark. We have a male and female pair. They are located along the
rock wall right below our aquarist. Horn sharks are nocturnal sharks that
prefer to hunt at night and hide in the safety of rock crevices while they
rest during the day. Female horn sharks will lay 1-2 eggs at a time. The
eggs look like this (hold up a spiral egg case) theres more examples
over by the sting ray touch pool. You are more than welcome to touch and
feel the eggs over there. Now if the egg was fertilized, the pup would take
about 6-9 months to develop. But this means only a couple sharks are
being born a year and if were lucky a few of them will survive to
adulthood.
Another factor we must consider is that sharks are incredibly slow growing
and it takes a long time for sharks to be old enough to reproduce. For
example, the leopard shark takes 10-15 years to reach maturity! A female
leopard shark can have 20-30 pups at a time. Amazingly, leopard sharks
are one of the few shark species that give live birth. How many of you
have heard that you can go snorkeling with leopard sharks right here in
San Diego? It is true. During the summer, Leopard sharks congregate right
off of La Jolla Shores and other local beaches. Current studies have shown
that these leopard sharks are pregnant females. The female sharks are
seeking calm, warmer waters to aide in their gestation which lasts about

10-12 months. This behavior provides a wonderful opportunity to observe

sharks in their natural habitat. It also gives local scientists a unique
opportunity to study sharks and contributes to the conservational efforts of
all shark species.
Now you can also contribute to protecting shark species. One simple way
is making informed consumer decisions when it comes to purchasing of
your seafood in restaurants and supermarkets. There is this really cool app
for smart phones called Seafood Watch (or a card you can print and
download to put in your wallet), which clearly lays out which species of
fish we should avoid because their populations are declining around the
world. By protecting these populations of fish, we protect the sharks and
other predators that rely on the fish as a food source.
Another thing that threatens sharks, both large and small, is the presence
of pollution in our local waterways and marine systems. By picking up
trash found in our parks, backyards, streets, and beaches, we can help
protect all marine wildlife and habitats. Lastly, sharks are incredibly
sensitive to any changes in their environment. Here at the Living Coast
Discovery Center, our aquarists work around the clock monitoring the pH
and temperature levels of the animals water to ensure the chemistry
maintains at healthy, normal levels. For our animal friends in the wild, you
can do your part to protect their environment by properly disposing of oils,
paints, and other household chemicals. This prevents dangerous chemicals
from entering our watersheds, bays, and oceans.

Conclusion
Repeat the theme
Summarize the main
points
Thank the audience
Ask for questions

One of the reasons we have these beautiful shark and ray species is to
educate the general public about the importance of these species and ways
we can help protect the local marine ecosystem. My hope is that you will
take some of this new knowledge you gained about sharks and rays and
gain a greater appreciation for their importance to our local wildlife. The
next time you go to the beach you can teach your friends a new dance
number: the sting ray shuffle and explain how this protects stingrays and
people too! Its easy to be afraid of sharks because they are so
misunderstood, but when we really begin to understand their importance to
our oceans, we can see why it is important to do our part in protecting
them.
Thank you so much for your time here with us at the Living Coast
Discovery Center. Does anyone have any questions about anything I talked
about today? I will be more than happy to stick around for a few
minutes in case you have any other questions. Remember there is one
more public feed over in Eagle Mesa (2:30pm Eagles). You can reference
your map for the times. Thank you again for your continued support of our
efforts in protecting this beautiful San Diego Bay habitat for all species!

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-----------------------------------------------Resources:
By Species
http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/species/bat_ray
http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/species/round_stin
gray
http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/species/leopard_sh
ark
http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/species/swell_shar
k
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/60152/0
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/fishes/horn-shark
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/fishes/shovelnoseguitarfish
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/fishes/white-sturgeon
https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/GreySmoothhound/Grey
Smoothhound.html
General Facts
http://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/sharks-are-in-trouble/otherthreats-facing-sharks/