The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

A LOCAL stingray expert says he hopes to “normalise” the marine animals and bring an end to the public stigma against them with his involvement in an upcoming Canadian documentary.

Keith Gordon Cooper, an eco-conservationist and owner of West End Ecology Tours in Grand Bahama, spoke about his recent participation in a wildlife documentary for the Montreal-based Blip.TV.

Mr Cooper spent four days last week shooting his segment on southern stingrays for “They Talk with Animals” to help show the public that these aren’t the dangerous animals he said they were “misled” to believe.

Mr Cooper said that while shooting for the documentary as part of his educational ecology tour, he interacted with stingrays on camera in order to show the audience how to do so safely.

“So, they got in the water with me, they filmed me, the work that I was doing as well as interacted with the stingrays so that we could talk about why these different stingrays are so close to me,” Mr Cooper said.

He said the documentary aims to show the audience what it’s like to interact with these misunderstood sea creatures.

He also discussed how he hoped to change public perceptions of both stingrays and lemon sharks common to Bahamian waters, as he said they play a vital role in our ecosystems.

“Also the interaction with lemon sharks was very conducive to further educate the guests from the show, the crew, and the host about how we as humans bond either with the animals or we are deathly afraid of the animals. So I was trying to do my best to try and showcase that sharks and stingrays are not these wild maniacal animals that attack humans, that’s not the way it works.

“So my goal was to show that they were not evil, they were not bad animals, that they serve a purpose in our ecosystem. And that closeness that I have with them basically validates that they’re not dangerous to us as long as we don’t do anything dangerous to them, like try to kill them.”

While Mr Cooper acknowledged that many people are still afraid of stingrays after the death of famous conservationist Steve Irwin back in 2006, he says that they don’t have to be as people have grown close with many so-called dangerous animals over the years, including bears and tigers.

He believes that if people interact with southern stingrays and lemon sharks with the proper care and respect they’d be less afraid of them. Mr Cooper also said that by doing so people would gain a greater appreciation of The Bahamas and its environment.

“Educating our people, I’m talking (about) the native Bahamians, about stingrays not being something that they should fear. Bahamians were taught from a very young age and for more than three to four generations that stingrays are these dangerous animals to be feared, you can’t get near ‘em, if they do they might kill you. That is what I hope to take away from this entire documentary.

“What I try to get people to understand is that in order to really appreciate your country, our country, in order to appreciate the marine life while we need to stand up and breathe above the water, we should also put on our masks and a snorkel and learn to breathe under the water or even wear scuba gear.”

Mr Cooper’s episode of “They Talk with Animals” is expected to air sometime in January next year.