See the white blob in the centre foreground - that's a fish head. The head is about 30cm long, the whole carcass possibly a little under a metre. The fishermen fillet their catch then dump what they don't want. The fish head is relevant to the next photo!
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| This stingray has been a regular visitor this summer. It was feeding on the fish carcasses ... |
I watched it elegantly and lazily glide over, stop and kind of hunch over the fish carcasses and feed from them. See the bits on top that look like eyes? They're not! They're more like a valve and gloops of air bubble out infrequently. Its eyes are quite small and just forward of the air bubble vent things. Its mouth is more or less underneath its eyes, so presumably it locates food by feel (and smell?)
The fins (wings?) daintily - effortlessly - ripple, but in exquisite slow motion, to change direction and speed. From wingtip to wingtip he'd be a metre, and the same in length, and then another metre for his tail. He is entrancing!
What parts of nature bring you joy?
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9 comments:
That's really cool! Guess from the measurements you gave he's over a yard long? I've seen them in aquariums but never in the wild.
thanks for passing along this dose of nature. It is calming. But...it's difficult for me to get past what my president did. It is worrisome, an embarrassment, and a travesty. I'm so worked up I just had to delete several paragraphs worth of rant about politics/governance in my country. I was at a political meeting with friends today and by mid-afternoon someone suggested moving to Australia. There was no disagreement among the bunch I tell you. There seems to be no solution. Happy weekend to you Sue.
Hi Alex, yes, that's about right. In other words, he's BIG! whether they're in an aquarium or in the wild, they're beautiful.
Hi Becky, thanks for drooping by. Don't give up! I find a good spot of gardening does wonders if you can't have a beach fix. Oh and lots of letters to politicians.
Wow, stingrays are amazing! And so is summertime. As you know, that is hardly what we're having at the moment... I envy you!!!
Hey Sue! What an awesome creature..I love wildlife and nature...where I live it's winter, (the depths!)..looking forward to summer, that's for sure!
CC, I hope the storms have abated. I've got another summery feast for you very soon!
Hi Eve! It's wonderful being able to get out and about and enjoy the beach at the moment. I know a lot of you must be feeling pretty cooped up by now.
Please drop back for my next post if you have time - it'll be a bit of a giggle!
I swam with a bunch of stingrays a few years ago. The purpose was to swim with the sharks and when I got there discovered I would also be in with about 15 stingray ...at the time (post Steve Irwin) I had my eyes on the Stingrays the entire time and my heart skipped a beat every time one would glide over (or under!) me. They got real close too. I froze. Scared to move. Just let them do their thing hoping they would move away quickly. I was more scared of them than the sharks but that was because of the bad publicity at the time and I was just unsure. But yes they are entrancing.
Hi Sue .. I didn't know fish could smell - but I found that out watching some BBC programmes on the Great Barrier Reef recently .. I wrote about it in January - tying loose ends ..
Just find it fascinating what we learn .. cheers Hilary
Michelle - oooh, lucky you, that'd be wonderful - though i fully understand that feeling. I found myself swimming with sharks once (in the wild) which was ... nerve-wracking ...
Hilary, sometimes I find myself thinking "so much to learn, so little time"
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