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Stingray Migration Pictures

Stingray migration

(Sent by Renee Fields)

I supposed it’s possible that this is a hoax email, but just the thought of being around to see something this magnificent made it necessary to post anyway.

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.
stingray-migration-wind


‘It’s hard to say exactly how many there were, but in the range of a few thousand’
stingray-migration-thousands

‘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.
stingray-migration-fins

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.
stingray-migration-yucatan

Remember to share this with others! Let your friends enjoy the beauty of nature, too!

0 thoughts on “Stingray Migration Pictures

  1. Kymri

    Wow, great photos! What an awesome sight, just incredible. Having twice landed on a ray while surfing, and twice been subject to it’s incredible sting, I think I’ll enjoy the view of these rays from the boat! Thanks for sharing these!

  2. Jonathan

    Thanks for your comment!
    It’s a beautiful sight, and we had the same thought… beautiful from the boat.
    My cousin from California (lives in Encinitas) relayed a story one time of walking out in the water to go surfing and accidentally stepping on a stingray, which promptly stung him.
    He mentioned it was one of the more painful injuries of his life.
    What did you do for your sting?
    Thanks again for commenting!

  3. teresa

    I would love these photos emailed to me so i can look at them from time to time the ones from the stingray migration gulf of mexico,
    Thank you greatly appreciated!

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