The ray also had a missing tail, much like this one by the looks of it. The similarity led Rose to wonder whether it was the very same creature.
Ocean ecologist Glenn Edney said it’s “pretty unlikely” to be the same ray “but there’s still plenty that we don’t know about them, so (we) couldn’t rule it out”.
“I’ve seen three white stingrays in my time, all different animals for certain.”
Edney said true albinos are “extremely rare”, and “albino-looking” stingrays are “certainly rare, but they are not unheard of”.
He explained albinism as a ”genetic misfire”, where the “pigmentation just doesn’t develop in the skin”.
“It’s not common amongst stingrays,” he said.
Edney explained it was likely the stingray had migrated into the harbour because there’s lots of food there.
Stingrays are bottom feeders “quite happy to scavenge around” and eat shellfish.
“That’s the reason you might find them around wharves,” he said.
Male stingrays are generally half the size of females and can be spotted through two protrusions just under their tails.
These ‘claspers’, according to Edney, are the reproductive organs of the male.
There are two common species of stingray in Aotearoa-long tailed (Dasyatis thetidis), and short-tailed (D. brevicaudata).
It is unclear whether the stingray is short-tailed or missing a tail entirely, however, Edney said if the tail is entirely missing that could become an issue for the ray.
“If they get caught in a net, the fishermen chop their tail off,” he explained, “Stingrays are really non-aggressive animals, the barbs are their last resort self defence and if they’re caught on a line or a net that’s a pretty desperate situation for a stingray.”
Ocean ecologist and trustee of Ocean Spirit Charitable Trust Glenn Edney says albino stingray are extremely rare. Photo / Tania Whyte
He said a stingray losing its tail is “not necessarily a fatal thing”.
“What they are losing is their ability to defend themselves, and our New Zealand orca specialise in hunting stingray.”
