Close Up With Stingrays

Close up with the stingrays: Photographer captures special holiday snaps of tourists swimming underwater off the Cayman Islands

• Photographer Claudio Gazzaroli, 38, captured the moment on camera during a trip to Grand Cayman in Caribbean
• Stingrays in local area off the coast are known to be friendly and many people go there for snorkelling experiences
• Animals can live for 25 years and spend much of their lives inactive buried in the sand, drifting with tide's movement

By Mark Duell

They're renowned for their friendliness off the Cayman Islands coast - but this stingray looks a little grumpy as he swims just below the water's surface.

Photographer Claudio Gazzaroli, 38, captured the moment on camera during a trip to Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, where tourists flock each year to swim with the majestic animals.

He said: 'A lot of people go to this place to snorkel with stingray, so the rays are really friendly. You can see the beauty of this wild animal and it is a stunning place to experience this encounter. 

Under the sea: Stingrays can live for 25 years and spend the majority of their lives inactive buried in the sand, drifting with the movement of the tide

Breathtaking: Tourists flock to the Caribbean each year to swim with the majestic animals - and photographer Claudio Gazzaroli, 38, captured the moment on camera

Swim time: Like sharks, they use sensors called ampullae of Lorenzini, which allow them to hunt prey by detecting their natural electrical pulses

Underwater: A woman in a bikini and flippers is pictured snorkelling and swimming with the extraordinary stingrays off the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean

Getting close: Tourists flock to the Caribbean island each year to swim underwater with the majestic animals, as these extraordinary photos show 

'It was really amazing. If you stand on the bottom they turn around and come very close to you and it is possible to touch them.'

Stingrays can live for 25 years and spend the majority of their lives inactive buried in the sand, drifting with the movement of the tide. 

Like sharks, they use sensors called ampullae of Lorenzini - named after the Italian scientist who discovered them.

These allow them to hunt prey by detecting their natural electrical pulses.

Help: Their numbers have been in decline in the Caymans - and Mr Gazzoroli, from Switzerland, said he hoped conservation efforts would make a difference

Best mates: Mr Gazzaroli said lots of people go to the area to snorkel with a stingray, so the creatures are 'really friendly'

Going under: Mr Gazzaroli added that it is clear to see 'the beauty of this wild animal' and the area is a stunning place to experience this encounter

Fantastic scenes: The experience was described as 'amazing' by Mr Gazzaroli and he said the rays 'come very close to you and it is possible to touch them'

Respectful tourists: Mr Gazzoroli said the area was 'beautiful' and the people who visit 'respect to rules' to help ensure conservation efforts

But their numbers have been in decline in the Caymans - and Mr Gazzoroli, from Switzerland, said he hoped conservation efforts will make a difference.

'This place is beautiful and we must respect and preserve these paradises,' he added. 

'Fortunately, the people who go there respect the rules and I hope to see this place again in 20 years, intact.'