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Canadian diver finds next stingray haven in Caribbean.

Dominican Republic, November 21, 2008 – Canadian diving instructor Vladi Heger has discovered a new stingray sanctuary on the eastern shore of the Dominican Republic. During one of many exploration dives near Bayahibe, Vladi discovered a natural breeding ground of sting rays. During the last few months Vladi and his crew have been searching for new and untouched dive spots for his scuba diving operation. He consulted with many local fishermen asking for their thoughts on where these magnificent creatures may find a comfortable home. After collecting all their data and rough directions to different areas the Diving Dominican Republic crew packed their dive gear set off on their boat to try and find the spots outlined by the fishermen. During one of these outings Vladi only got to about 15m to discover a beautifully landscaped labyrinth of small valleys and swim-throughs where he encountered huge stingrays in large numbers.

“I was hoping to find a nice new dive spot for our clients, but what we found was something really unique.” said Vladi

The area was immediately named Stingray Point by Vladi and the Crew. The exact location has been kept as quiet as possible to help protect the stingrays from mass tourism, but Vladi and a few other local dive operators are taking small groups of divers to this pristine location.

Stingrays are beautiful creatures that appear to fly through the water using their wings. While some adult stingrays are only the size of a human hand others can grow to a6 ft diameter. With the relatively shallow depth of Stingray point it becomes easy for divers of all levels to watch the rays in their natural habitat. Stingrays have made the news in recent years with the tragic death of world renowned wildlife expert Steve Irwin. While these fish have a sharp and lethal tail they are not known to attack humans and fatalities such as Steve Irwin’s are infrequent and occurrences are not consistently collated.