00:01This is the moment a newborn stingray took its first movements after having just hatched from
00:08an egg incubated at an aquarium as part of the Thermikos Biodiversity Project in Greece,
00:14Chaldikidi. The stingray belongs to the rare and vulnerable species Calcanobatus. The egg,
00:21along with four others rescued from fishermen's nets, was carefully monitored by scientists to
00:26give the young stingrays the best possible chance of survival as stingrays are among the world's
00:31most endangered fish. So here behind me we have an aquarium that is simulating the conditions
00:37here of the sea in Alkidiki or the Tremakos Gulf and the purpose is to hatch eggs of the thrown
00:44back
00:44raid in this case normally we also can work with other species but in this case the idea is to
00:49after hatching we simulate the conditions and we release back into the sea so they have a second
00:55chance of survival. So the purpose for this aquarium is to give these eggs that are collected by
01:01fishers a second chance of survival if they get collected in nets or in some sort of adult that
01:10is collected by the fish and they will abort the eggs most likely in terms of regarding the stress
01:16that will be caused so this is to control the bycatch effect of the fishing. So after hatching we are
01:23closing monitoring the individual always in communication with Lamna Institute in Valencia for scientific
01:28purposes and after a few days we will release it back into into the wild here in the Tremakos Gulf
01:34behind me in a certain depth where the aquarium is simulating the temperature ideal temperature for
01:39them and after release hopefully it will grow and will survive for the next generation. With the help of
01:45divers from IC, an environmental organization dedicated to protecting aquatic ecosystems, the newborn rays
01:53spend a few days in the aquarium before being released into the sea. They returned to their natural habitat at
01:59a
01:59death where conditions including temperature and water quality closely match those they experienced in their
02:06first moments of life. This helps give them the best possible chance of survival.
