Team ECCO's Aquarium and Shark Lab is navigating some troubled waters.
Just weeks after the Hendersonville, N.C. aquarium announced that Charlotte the stingray was, in fact, not expecting, they delivered even more shocking news.
"We are sad to announce, after continuing treatment with her medical care team and specialist, our ray Charlotte passed away today," the aquarium said in a June 30 Facebook post. "We are continuing to work with her medical care team and research specialist."
Charlotte first made a splash back in February, when the aquarium announced the round stingray—estimated to be between 12 and 16 years old—was carrying as many as four pups despite being the only stingray living in her tank.
And though the ray did share living quarters with two bamboo sharks named Moe and Larry, the assumption was that she had undergone parthenogenesis, a type of asexual reproduction in which an embryo develops without fertilization from sperm.
"We are on pup watch," Kinsley Boyette, the assistant director of the Aquarium and Shark Lab by Team ECCO, told local paper Hendersonville Times-News at the time, adding that Charlotte "will do whatever she wants to do."
As it turned out, what she wanted to do was swim about and snack on treats.
"Charlotte is doing well and enjoys interacting with guests and the divers," the aquarium noted in an April 27 post, confirming that their pup watch was ongoing. "Her favorite thing to eat this week was scallops along with silversides. We thank you for your patience and kindness during Charlotte's journey."
And just when things started to feel a bit, well, fishy, the organization's owner Brenda Ramer confirmed to WLOS News 13 that the ray wasn't expecting.
In a May interview, Ramer told the Asheville-based outlet that Charlotte actually has a reproductive disease, and veterinarians have diagnosed the ray with diapause, noting, "We're still trying to understand a lot of these terms ourselves."
What they weren't digging that deep into was social media speculation that they had made the whole thing up to create a splash.
"I can't control what people think," she continued, later adding, "I can only tell you what we know for certain. I've never been a liar. This was not a scam. This was not anything made up, but people do that. People have their own thoughts."
While the aquarium's specialists said they were working with veterinarians and other specialists to explore treatment options, Charlotte's story came to a sad end.
Announcing plans to temporarily close the center, the Facebook post added, "The Team ECCO family appreciates your continued love and support while we navigate this great loss."