It’s a Ray! It’s a Bat Ray!

It’s a Ray! It’s a Bat Ray!

We wrapped up our last day on the west coast diving and we found this amazing ray. Rays are such graceful and neat fish and we were super excited to meet the bat ray!

Date: 1/26

Location: Kelp forest

Bat Ray Fun Facts:

• Bat rays belong in the eagle ray family.
• They use their pectoral fins to swim and to stir-up sand and reveal prey.
• When these rays “dig” out holes from the sand, they leave holes that other fish, like the horn shark use to hide in.
• Bat rays have strong crushing plates that they use to crush hard shells.

• Bat rays give live birth. The pups have the venomous spine, but it is soft and covered in a sheath to protect the mother.
• Bat rays have spiracles that move water over their gills when they are resting on the ocean floor.
• Bat rays are mostly solitary.

Wow! We so enjoyed watching the rays swim so gracefully in the waters just off the coast! We couldn’t have picked a better last day! We did miss many animals though; that just means we’ll have to come back! For now, we’ll head back to our HQs at the University and get our things back for the Serengeti! That’s right, we’re going to Africa and back to Ellie’s home! We are so excited!!!