Charlotte The Stingray's Prolonged Pregnancy Sparks Fan Suspicion!
Charlotte is STILL pregnant.
Yes, you read that right. If you're waiting patiently for Charlotte the stingray to finally give birth, your patience might be wearing thin right about now. Many TikTokers are in that exact sinking boat and starting to question if they are victims of gaslighting.
Charlotte The Stingray Is STILL Pregnant
Earlier this year, Team ECCO announced that Charlotte the stingray was shockingly pregnant. Why shockingly, you might wonder? Well, she hasn't been in a tank with a male stingray in a very long time, and since she wasn't talking, speculations began to grow.
First, the aquarium staff said she could possibly be having a sharkray, thinking maybe she mated with one of the male sharks in the tank. But they later came to the conclusion that she got herself pregnant through a process called parthenogenesis, where the eggs develop on their own without fertilization and create a clone of the mother.
"It's a once in a bluest of blue moons experience," aquarium's founder and executive director, Brenda Ramer said about parthenogenesis with a stingray, according to ABC News 13. "We're either going to have partho babies, or we're going to have some kind of potential mixed breed, and we're waiting for Jeff Goldblum to show up because we are 'Jurassic Park' right now!"
Team ECCO Gave Regular Updates Until Recently And Fans Have Taken Notice!
TikTokers notice everything, including the lack of updates on Charlotte recently!
Content creator, @3rdtimesthecharmlosingit, took notice and shared her thoughts in a recently posted video.
"May the 15th, Charlotte the stingray update. So first we had sharkrays, then we had Jesus stingrays, now the story gets stranger," she said. "Now we have a stingray who can write her own social media post. That is what Team ECCO has brought us today. Apparently, Charlotte the stingray, after not having any post with her in video for the last like two weeks, will bring us her own update later this evening."
But that never happened. Team ECCO did not update their TikTok or Instagram pages on Wednesday night as promised.
Fans are starting to get a bit more than just antsy at this point. Many are starting to question if they are victims of gaslighting.
"Starting to think this publicity stunt," one viewer wrote. Another said, "But like, the day is over! Where's the update?!?" to which the content creator responded, "They took the post down so I’m operating on one of two theories…it was hacker that posted that comment or they thought it was cute and it backfired with negative comments and their PR team nixed it."
The TikTok Content Creator Shared An Update
The content creator shared another video talking about the fact that the post she shared from Team ECCO was now missing in action. And with no explanation, everyone's running with their own intuition and thoughts.
"Interesting fact. When I visited the Team ECCO aquarium in March, I did speak with the owner and she let me know that Charlotte the stingray has her own PR team," she said. "I don't know, maybe they made a PR whoopsie-doopsie on that post and decided that wasn't on brand for Miss Charlotte the stingray to update us herself."
In a follow-up video on Thursday morning, the content creator shares more of her thoughts on this situation.
She explained that Charlotte is "so overdue at this point" and everyone wants updates but the aquarium's updates have recently become "real spotty."
"April 27th was the last time they posted a video of Charlotte the stingray, so now we are at May 16th and we have not seen her since April 27th," she said. "The aquarium is a place I actually went to so I see a lot of comments from people saying oh it's a sketchy little storefront aquarium, she's not being taken care of. I wouldn't agree with those statements."
Another TikToker Shared Her Thoughts On The Lack Of Recent Updates
Monica Turner, another TikTok content creator, recently shared her thoughts about Charlotte's updates, or lack thereof.
"So I told you earlier that there was an update on Facebook earlier this afternoon that was there and then gone," she said, talking about the same deleted post that other TikTokers are discussing. She then shared a screenshot of the mysteriously deleted post.
She explained that some people are saying the aquarium was hacked, but because they never addressed that, she's not buying it. She asked her followers what they are thinking about this odd situation, and many took to the comments to share their thoughts.
"According to Google, stingrays can be pregnant for 3-4 months….which just make me more confused over the situation. I feel like I’m being gaslit by a stingray and/or an aquarium," one viewer wrote.
Another person shared, "Maybe she had a stillbirth and they don’t know how to tell us." One other viewer said, "I think it was all a publicity stunt. Never pregnant they just wanted views and to draw business in."
A Marine Biologist Chimed In On Charlotte's Longer Than Normal Pregnancy
Dr. Chris Lowe, a professor of marine biology and the director of the shark lab at California State University Long Beach, recently shared his thoughts on Charlotte's pregnancy with WLOS.
"I see them [Team ECCO] as being really important ambassadors and a lot of the people that keep these animals are really good at what they do and they know how to keep the animals safe and healthy," Lowe said.
"We don’t fully understand why parthenogenesis occurs and under what conditions, and, in fact, it doesn’t look to be terribly successful. In fact, a lot of the offspring don’t do well and many of them don’t survive.”
Lowe also explained that Charlotte's pregnancy could be going on longer than normal due to diapause.
"Diapause is this temporary stop of development, and it turns out that, in rays, this is somewhat common, so if the female is stressed, if she’s nutritionally underweight, she might actually put her embryos on pause,” he said.
Lowe suggested that fans stay patient and ultimately said, "One way or the other, something is going to come out, and they may be dead, but we'll see."
