The Flying Mobulas of the Sea of Cortez
Here’s to putting the science in Tech and Science for a change. These photos are simply incredible, they’re a species of ray, closely related to the manta ray that jump up into the air and seem to acheieve flight. Noone seems to have any idea as to why they do it, with theories ranging from ‘just for fun’ to ‘clean barnacles off themselves’. The photos however is what makes the article so amazing.
"Then again, it’s hard not to believe this behavior is not some manner of play—it certainly looks that way. Among fish, mobula rays have disproportionately large and complex brains. In fact, the weight of their brains relative to their body weight is comparable to many mammals.
Some mobulids, manta rays in particular, are known to exhibit un-fishlike playful behavior amongst themselves and with human divers. Some of these creatures will seek out human contact and will approach divers to solicit attention, a scratch, or just apparently, to feel a diver’s bubbles against their skin.
But the mobulas that I paddle among seem to be indifferent to my presence, caught up perhaps in their own little form of rapture. Sometimes they land so close to my kayak that I scramble more than once to put my lens under a shirt before the splash hits me. Other times I can feel them thump against the bottom of my kayak. I have to wonder if they even know I am here just as I wonder if they will be here in the coming seasons."
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