This morning, during the usual Sundays’ guided tour, the Cerrano Guides Mario Cipollone and Alberto Miccadei, along with the scout group of the parish church of Sant’Andrea in Pescara, spotted from the top of the Cerrano tower a splendid specimen of stingray swimming near the shore. The elegant animal, probably a common stingray (Dasyatis Pastinaca, L.), seemed in excellent condition and was ringing around the underwater rocks in front of the tower, perhaps hunting fish and shellfish. In comparison with the rocks, it had to be at least 1 m wide. Few days ago another specimen was found dead on the shore in Pineto (see previous post).
The today’s sighting confirms the wealth of marine and terrestrial species that live in the Marine Protected Area of Torre Cerrano and the need to protect them to ensure that these sightings are not only episodic, but more and more frequent. In addition, two months ago a specimen of bottlenose dolphin was spotted by the guides while it was swimming 150 meters from the beach opposite the tower, and last week, during a guided visit, a beautiful specimen of hobby bird hovered around the tower chasing swallows.