GREAT MIGRATION: Hundreds of cownose rays were spotted moving through the crystal-clear ocean in the Gulf of America as they shimmered in the sunlight.
ANNA MARIA, Fla. – A beautiful scene unfolded off the coast of Florida this week as a large group of cownose stingrays glided through the ocean on Monday.
Video footage captured by Jacob Merrifield in Florida shows an aerial view of a massive school of rays traveling in the Gulf of America as they begin their fall and winter migration.
Hundreds of cownose rays swimming through the Gulf of America.
Cownose rays are native to Chesapeake Bay, which is their primary nursery habitat during the summer before migrating to warmer coastal waters off Central Florida as temperatures begin to drop.
According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, cownose rays are known for long migrations in large schools and can cover extensive distances.
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A cownose ray swimming in its tank at the Aquazoo in Duesseldorf, Germany, 21 August 2017. The Aquazoo Loebbecke Museum is opening after more than 4 years of renovations costing almost 21 million euros.
(Federico Gambarini/picture alliance / Getty Images)
These creatures have a venomous spine just behind the base of their dorsal fin, but even in large groups, they are shy and non-threatening.
A cownose ray uses electroreception to scan the seafloor for burrowed prey such as clams.
Close view of rays and stingrays swimming in Ray Bay at Ripley s Aquarium of Canada in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 28, 2023. The blue underwater scene shows ventral views of rays with whip-like tails, including cownose ray Rhinoptera bonasus and stingrays consistent with southern stingray Hypanus americanus or roughtail stingray Bathytoshia centroura, species listed by the aquarium for Ray Bay.
(Martin Bertrand / Hans Lucas / AFP / Getty Images)
While foraging for food, schools of rays can stir up huge clouds of silt over a large area in the sea.
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Although this is common, it is still a unique sight from such a rare viewpoint.
