Team ECCO Shares Sad News About Charlotte The Stingray

After months of excitement over Charlotte the stingray's pregnancy, it was announced that she wasn't pregnant, and fans were concerned about her health and well-being.

And now just a month later, Team ECCO, the aquarium taking care of Charlotte, just shared the sad news of her passing on Facebook.

After an unfortunate series of events, Charlotte the stingray, who gained fame due to her parthenogenesis pregnancy, has sadly passed away.

Team ECCO shared the upsetting news on just their Facebook page, and not on Instagram and TikTok where the stingray had hundreds of thousands of loyal followers.

"We are sad to announce, after continuing treatment with her medical care team and specialist, our ray Charlotte passed away today. We are continuing to work with her medical care team and research specialist," Team ECCO wrote on Facebook. "The Team ECCO family appreciates your continued love and support while we navigate this great loss."

They also explained that the aquarium will "remain temporarily closed" so that staff can care for the other residents of the aquarium.

Team ECCO has its comment section on Facebook turned off. The aquarium shared the news of Charlotte's passing on Facebook late Sunday night but hasn't shared the update on their other social media pages as of Monday afternoon. The last update shared on TikTok was in late April and over on Instagram, on June 5.

In early June, Team ECCO shared a post on Instagram explaining that Charlotte was not pregnant.

"Medical experts have confirmed that Charlotte is no longer pregnant due to her reproductive disease," they wrote. "The medical team performed their bi-weekly in-person assessment last night at the aquarium and reported that Charlotte is stable and continues to show no decrease in appetite or activity."

The post went on to explain that "medical experts" were reviewing ultrasounds and tests so they could get treatment option recommendations. They also shared that the aquarium would be "temporarily closed to ensure the safety and medical care of Charlotte and all our animals."

Many content creators who were keeping up with Charlotte's pregnancy and have spoken out about the information being shared have also shared their thoughts on her death.

TikToker @spellboundstitchery, who's shared many videos about Charlotte, shared the news of her passing for anyone who missed the announcement on Team ECCO's Facebook page.

"So at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time or thereabouts, Team ECCO announced that Charlotte the stingray died, and I still have a lot of thoughts to wrap my head around. I still have a lot to process about this, as I'm sure most of the people who have been following the story have a lot to process," she said.

"To you guys who were really hoping for live babies as the outcome, I know this is super devastating. And I just regret that this happened, that it ended this way, however, I do feel strongly that my advocacy and my getting the word out about this case on TikTok and putting pressure on Team ECCO to get her veterinary care, at least got her care so that we weren't watching her deteriorate in public and so that they finally acknowledged that she had a disease and that she needed medical care."

The vibe of the comment section of Spellbound Stitchery's video was somber and not shocking. Many expected this unfortunate outcome.

"I knew it was coming but this is the first TikTok I’ve seen about it. Rest in peace Charlotte. You amplified the struggles of women everywhere," one person said. Another added, "This is so sad. You did right by her. I hate that her medical team made her suffer for as long as they did, though."

Many others thanked the content creator for her "advocacy" and for "giving Charlotte a voice."

"Poor Charlotte. She deserved so much better than this. But your advocacy for her was so important," one person shared. Another said, "She needed someone and she found you. You got to show her love and you kept your word to her by giving her a voice through you. That’s special."

From the moment that Team ECCO announced that Charlotte was pregnant despite not having a mate, the world watched in anticipation for her to give birth. She stole hearts all over the world.

And while her pregnancy went on for much longer than anyone imagined it would, fans patiently, and some impatiently, watched the aquarium's social media pages in the hopes of seeing her pups.

With every update shared by the aquarium, fans would question why it appeared that Charlotte had been pregnant for way longer than she should have been, and many were concerned for her health.  At some point, the aquarium turned off the comment section on Facebook and Instagram and stopped sharing updates on TikTok.

Rest in peace, Charlotte.