3 Cool Facts about Spotted Eagle Rays
Diving is amazing on Roatan no matter what time of year, but let’s be honest, we all really look forward to eagle ray season. Nothing can make a dive like seeing a spotted eagle ray (or three!) glide gently along the reef, or watching them dig through the sand with their noses for food. We know you already like these cool creatures, but to make you fall even more in love with them, here are 3 Cool Facts about spotted eagle rays!
Diving is amazing on Roatan no matter what time of year, but let’s be honest, we all really look forward to eagle ray season. Nothing can make a dive like seeing a spotted eagle ray (or three!) glide gently along the reef, or watching them dig through the sand with their noses for food. We know you already like these cool creatures, but to make you fall even more in love with them, here are 3 Cool Facts about spotted eagle rays!
Eagle ray patterns are like fingerprints
Like human fingerprints, each eagle ray’s back pattern is unique. That’s why when conservationists and scientists are putting together eagle ray population censuses in an area, they’ll ask for photos to do what’s called a “natural tag”. No two eagle rays have the same back pattern, (although to the untrained eye, they all look very similar), allowing this to be a useful, and non-invasive, model for identification.
Photo by Caribbean Reef Life
Eagle rays can jump through the air
Have you ever been on the beach watching the Roatan sunset and seen a big splash? More often that not, those are eagle rays jumping through the air. Although eagle rays don’t jump into giant groups like the mobula rays off of Baja California, they have been known to jump onto boats, even accidentally killing a woman once when they landed on her.
Scientists aren’t 100% sure the reason why rays jump. Some speculate that they are females trying to get away from males (bye, Felipe!) and some think they are trying to get rid of parasites on their body. Either way, it’s a cool thing to witness.
Eagle rays lay eggs, but also carry their eggs to term
No doubt you guys have seen the amazing video of the ray giving birth at the zoo! While eagle rays lay eggs, they’ll actually carry the eggs inside of them until the babies, called pups, are born ready to swim. Eagle rays only carry about 4 pups at a time, which is why their numbers are threatened all around the world because of their slow reproduction, decimation of food sources due to overfishing, and being hunted in some places.
So there you have it, 3 Cool Facts About Eagle Rays! We hope that you all can make it down to Roatan soon so you can see these wonderful creatures, and everything else that Roatan underwater has to offer, in person! Don’t forget to also support the Roatan Marine Park (and your conservation organizations back home) to make sure that the spotted eagle ray is around for years to come.
3 Cool Facts About Moray Eels
Moray eels are weird. They come in an crazy amount of shapes, sizes and colors, can look really goofy or really intimidating, and all have a variety of behaviors that often means the only thing they have in common is their lack of appendages.
But moray eels are as interesting as they are weird, so let’s learn 3 cool facts about moray eels!
Moray eels are weird. They come in an crazy amount of shapes, sizes and colors, can look really goofy or really intimidating, and all have a variety of behaviors that often means the only thing they have in common is their lack of appendages.
But moray eels are as interesting as they are weird, so let’s learn 3 cool facts about moray eels!
Photo by Caribbean Reef Life
Green Morays are actually brown
Green morays are probably the most common moray we see on Roatan, mostly because they are often free swimming. Sinewy and unafraid, these magnificent animals will glide effortlessly along the reef, stopping occasionally to look into crevasses for food. However, untrue to its name, the true skin color of the green moray is brown. Green morays create a toxic mucus to cover their bodies to ward off predators, and this yellow tinted mucus combined with their brown skin is what gives them their green appearance.
2. Morays are not trying to threaten you
The most common gesture we see in all moray eels is them opening and closing their mouths. In smaller morays, it’s adorable. In larger morays, it’s intimidating, looking like their are gnawing, threatening us if we come closer. But this isn’t the case at all! Moray eels breathe through their gills, but water has to be constantly flowing through their gills to work. When moray eels aren’t moving forward, they still need to having the water flowing, so they “pump” the water through their gills by opening and closing their mouths. This doesn’t mean you should try to manhandle moray eels, though; always remember to practice responsible diving and give them (and all other marine species) a wide berth!
3. Hunting is better with friends!
If you’ve ever seen the green morays free swimming on Roatan, you’ll notice that they’re often not alone. Green morays will often partner with snappers or groupers for a hunt. Like hunting dogs, snappers and groups can point out prey for the green moray to get at, and the fish can close off one end of a crevasse while the moray eel goes in from the other side.
Bonus fact: Humans have created bad habits
Recently, you’ll hear more and more reports about green morays acting aggressive, even biting people. Unfortunately, this behavior was something created entirely by humans. Initially, when divers started spearfishing for lionfish in the Americas, they fed them to morays, snappers and groupers in an effort to encourage these animals to hunt for the invasive lionfish themselves. The feeding did not have the desired effect, instead causing aggressive behavior in these animals towards divers, especially divers with spears. While marine reserves everywhere are trying to rectify this wrong, it’s still important to treat morays, snappers and groupers respectfully, but also be prepared to dump your lionfish loot and run if necessary.
Were there any facts that you didn’t know before this post? Are there other animals you’d like to learn cool facts about? Let us know here or on our Facebook page!