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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Eva Corlett in Wellington | Photography: Derek Morrison

‘Sea puppy pancakes’: what it’s like to pat a 300kg wild stingray

Clinton Duffy New Zealand Bella Gisborne
Dive Tatapouri owner Dean Savage, 63, calls in the stingrays ahead of a reef ecology tour at Tatapouri. Dive Tatapouri offers a world-famous interactive experience with stingrays and other marine life. The interactive Reef Ecology Tour is famous for its wild stingrays including eagle rays and short-tail rays. The tour, which allows visitors to pet and feed stingrays, is one of the most popular and unique things to do in New Zealand. Dive Tatapouri is located 15 minutes' drive from Tairāwhiti Gisborne on State Highway 35, Eastland, New Zealand. Photo: Derek Morrison
Dean Savage, 63, stands near stingrays ahead of a reef ecology tour at Tatapouri, near Gisborne, New Zealand. Photograph: Derek Morrison

In a shallow reef close to New Zealand’s east coast shore, a group of 30 people wearing khaki overalls and boots huddle together like a crescent moon, waiting for the stars of the show to arrive.

They don’t have to wait long.

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