Gliding along…
Here’s what it looked like as we arrived and climbed down off the catamaran (lovely sail out: the Cockatoo Catamaran shore excursion – highly recommended!)
Swarms of rays greet each arriving boat – because people mean food!
Michael helped folks climb down the ladder – notice who is swarming around behind him!
This is why I call them flying bathmats –
look at her size!
Smaller, but still a female. They’re quite docile
and comfortable being touched and petted.
This is a regular sized male (about 1/3 the size of the female).
Michael holding/feeding a female.
And one (two?) flying up to Michael Ray.
One trying to slide into the bait bucket.
FEED me! (Their eyes are above and their mouths below,
so they never get to see what they eat.)
Mike was just getting mobbed by rays! (I was standing IN the mob to get the picture.)
Still wanting more.
They were climbing up onto to Michael Ray and the bait bucket. They know where food comes from! (Notice her eye, and immediately behind it, the open gill slit.)
The poisonous barb above the tail. Rays are only dangerous if you step on them (hence the recommended shuffling of feet in the sand – to warn them off), or if you grab their tails.
Another tail (er… not counting the ladies.…)
Flexible, eh?
Tiny ‘aft flaps’ (dunno what they’re really called…)
Michael say they look like cylon ships, from Battlestar Galactica (the original one).
They look kinda mean, but they’re gentle.
You can see the eye and gill slit here too.
Our group at Sting Ray City.
The Ports |
The Cruise |
The Lago Mar