Stingray Cove in South Pacific Aquarium at Point Defiance Zoo

Feel Stingray Velvet

What does a stingray feel like? Find out for yourself at Stingray Cove! Touch small stingrays (their barbs clipped) and meet their cartilaginous cousins – whitespotted bamboo sharks and epaulette sharks. Free with admission in the tropical Lagoon exhibit of the South Pacific Aquarium.

Discover our rays

Dinner-plate-sized

(Just right for touching.)

Dip your hands in to find species like brown Atlantic and mottled yellow rays, swimming placidly in the clear water or lying camouflaged in the sandy bottom. (Aquarists keep the stingrays’ barbs clipped.) Daily from 9:15am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-4:00pm.

Long live stingrays! (Literally.)	Stingrays are born live and look just like mom – except in miniature.	Some can live more than a quarter of a century.
Any size will do. (But ours are small.)	Stingrays vary greatly in size. Some are no bigger than a hand.	Others grow up to 6.5 feet wide and can weigh nearly 800 pounds.
Clipping barbs. (It doesn't hurt.)	Our aquarists clip our ray's barbs so you don't need to worry about getting stung.	It doesn't hurt them - it's similar to humans clipping fingernails.

Saving Stingrays

They need our protection.

THE THREAT: Stingrays are often accidentally caught up in commercial operations fishing for other species, leading to death or injury of the rays. Some stingray populations are vulnerable to the home aquarium pet trade, and all can be harmed by human pollution washing into the ocean.

TAKE ACTION: Make smart food choices using the Seafood Watch app or guide. Use a Reef Fish Guide to help you pick aquarium pets that won’t hurt wild stingrays. And always clean up pet waste, motor oil and other harmful substances before they wash into Puget Sound.

Take Action