KNYSNA NEWS - Blue stingrays have returned to Knysna for their annual pupping period, which according to Garden Route National Park marine ecologist Kyle Smith is typically in the early summer season.
Smith says blue stingrays are endemic (occurring from KwaZulu-Natal, around our coastline, and along Namibia and into Angola), and they have migrational habits based on season, like most of the animal kingdom.
"They are inshore species usually caught along sandy beaches and estuary mouths, but they seem to have an inshore/offshore migration related to season," Smith explains. "Basically, they migrate offshore (down to roughly 100m) during winter and then move inshore during summer."
When it comes to the blue stingrays, mating season is typically during autumn (March to May) and with a nine-month gestation period, they tend to come inshore to pup (give birth) in early summer (October to December).
While Smith points out that the Knysna Estuary is an ideal environment for the pupping period due to the "lower sections being more a marine bay than an estuary", they aren't only found in Knysna. "They can be found along all our sheltered sandy beaches, shallow bays and also other estuaries (mostly permanently open estuaries)," he said.
During the pupping period, females, which mature after seven years, give birth to one to seven pups.
The stingrays, while not regarded as critically endangered, are still vulnerable according to Smith. The species is often caught by coastal sport fisherman with the majority being released. "The daily bag limit (the number that one angler can keep per day) is one," Smith clarifies. "It is listed on the IUCN red data list as Least Concern. However, the stock status (population abundance) has not been formally assessed in South Africa and stingrays in general are potentially vulnerable to post-release mortality."
To increase survival after capture, Smith encourages anglers to not use gaffs, to avoid dragging them over dry beach sand and minimise the time the ray spends out of the water.
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