Rays Gathering Underwater

As I jumped in the water to check the current before starting the dive, my eyes caught a whole bunch of rays hanging around near a big coral block with a wide hole underneath. The visibility was very good so I could easily see them from the surface. Immediately I asked the captain to keep the boat in that specific area.  We got ready with great excitement and managed to descend at the exact spot, seeing the rays right below us.

Dropping to the sandy bottom at 20 meters we noticed that there were 8 big blotched fantail rays (blackblotched stingray) , reaching up to 3 meters in length, inclusive the tail.

It's already an uncommon sighting to see that type of ray at Mnemba atoll and to see a big group like that is really unusual.

Looking closer, making sure not to get too close as their tail is carrying a big barbed spine at the base of the tail, I noticed they were all males, recognizable by the two claspers (each side of the tail), their copulation organs. Obviously this was mating time!

They were all trying to get into the overhang of the big coral block. With my torch I peeked in and we saw one massive ray, distinctly bigger then the others, probably the female but as it was laying head first, it was impossible to determine it for sure. The female rays have flat fin-like protrusions next to the tail, different to the male.

The males kept trying to get to her, all laying on top of each other. Some were getting cleaned, others were just resting... We stayed around for more then 5 minutes when we decided to move on and leave them in peace.

The rest of the dive we saw many other different types of rays. Everywhere Kuhl's stingrays were buried in the sand, shooting off as we got near. We stopped counting as they were too many.

We also spotted one ray that until now we have not been able to determine the exact species, but definitely from the Torpedo Ray family.

After 50min we surfaced completely excited and could not believe our luck! A diving experience to remember...

blackblotched stingray - Taeniura melanospilos

Posted: &BEYOND Mnemba Island by Leen Charle, Date: 20 August 2007

 
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