[BITList] Fw: STINGRAY MIGRATION, Gulf of Mexico

[David Harvey]

Message



 

 

 

 

Mass Migration of Stingrays

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking like giant leaves floating
in the sea, thousands of Golden Rays are seen here gathering off
the coast of Mexico. The spectacular scene was captured as the
magnificent creatures made one of their biannual mass migrations
to more agreeable waters. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gliding silently beneath the waves,
they turned vast areas of blue water to gold off the northern tip
of the Yucatan Peninsula. Sandra Critelli, an amateur
photographer, stumbled  across the phenomenon while looking
for whale sharks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She said: 'It was an unreal image,
very difficult to describe. The surface of the water was covered
by warm and different shades of gold and looked like a bed of
autumn leaves gently moved by the wind.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

'It's
hard to say exactly how many there were, but in the range of a
few thousand'

  

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'We were surrounded by them without
seeing the edge of the school and we could see many under the
water surface too. I feel very fortunate I was there in the right
place at the right time to experience nature at its best' 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Measuring up to 7ft (2.1 meters)
from wing-tip to wing-tip, Golden rays are also more prosaically
known as cow nose rays. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have long, pointed pectoral
fins that separate into two lobes in front of their high-domed
heads and give them a cow-like appearance. Despite having
poisonous stingers, they are known to be shy and non-threatening
when in large schools. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The population in the Gulf of Mexico
migrates, in schools of as many as 10,000, clockwise from western
Florida to the Yucatan. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

Don't
forget to share this with others!  Let
your friends enjoy the beauty of creation, too!

 

 

 

   



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