Are you brave enough to pet a stingray?

TACOMA-- Please touch the stingrays -- at least that's the advice from Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium as they open their latest exhibit.

Visitors will be able to reach into the 1,000 gallon tank and touch five different species of stingrays. The rays range from the bright bluespotted maskray to the mottled yellow rays known for camouflaging themselves on the bottom of the sandy tank.  Aquarium staff will teach visitors how to gently touch them by sliding their hands along the pectorial fins or sides of the rays.

The barbs on the stingrays are clipped, so there's no need for visitors to worry about being stung. 

Stingray Cove is part of the zoo's South Pacific Aquarium. It opens to visitors on May 4.