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Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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Jumping Rays
Jumping Rays
We have a bug man, a bird man so I was wondering if we have a Ray man on the Nomad board. (Not Raymond)
Every season here on the East Cape holds some kind of strange and wonderful happening. This early morning I was awakened by what sounded like a herd
of Clydesdales playing soccer on the beach road. Sounds get distorted on their way up from the beach and later in the day I discovered the sound was
coming from large shoals of rays jumping close to shore. (I live 650 meters~from the water and it was still loud enough to wake me). By afternoon I
could see them with my binoculars and was amazed at the size and activity of the school.
They are probably eagle ray so I decided to research on the internet about why they do their loud belly flops in a clumsy ballet (inline syncopation).
I’ve always supposed that the sound excites the bait they are after and somehow gives them an advantage they would not enjoy if simply swimming and
hoping to find close, slow food items.
As usual I got more questions out of my research than answers. Maybe somebody on the board can enlighten.
1. Eagle and bat rays are bottom feeders of crustaceans so my theory falls apart for them.
2. Mantas and mobulas eat mostly plankton so how would the movement serve them? (Mantas and mobulas are different families – the mouth of the manta
opens at the very front of the animal – it is a few inches further back on the mobula)
3. Stinrays are mostly bottom feeders too and they took all the skin off my knuckles when I fed them in the Caymans; I couldn’t guess where the mouths
were in relation to the nose and I held onto the squid too long – my bad.
4. So why would they bother to jump and flip endlessly in a certain kind of rhythm in line?
5. What unusual weather circumstance was in play to send that dancing Clydesdale sound all the way up the hill to my house?
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Humboldt Chris and Robin
Junior Nomad
Posts: 75
Registered: 11-13-2004
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We came up the west coast of Central America and Mexico on a Panama Canal cruise in November and we saw the same thing - rays jumping, doing flips,
and belly flopping. They were all over the place from Panama all the way past Cabo.
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maspacifico
Nomad
Posts: 317
Registered: 4-22-2008
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I hear that all the time at night too. Usually when the wind is blowing my way, or not at all. Loud enough to take notice. From watching on the kayak
I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with feeding. It must be a mating thing, or, they just do it because they can? It's like watching popcorn pop
when they really get going. When I paddle through a bunch of them I take the lure out of the water because I've snagged too many. Pretty neat to
watch.
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Diver
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4729
Registered: 11-15-2004
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I've seen the rays jumping when fishing off La Ventana.
I was told by a local that the action was to help dislodge parasites or barnacles.
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Curt63
Super Nomad
Posts: 1171
Registered: 3-28-2009
Location: San Diego, Ca.
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Mood: Fish tacos and Tecate
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I saw jumping rays off La Ventana last June too. Not a school, but quite a few in one area. We were hoping they were marlin, but no........
[Edited on 1-21-2011 by Curt63]
No worries
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bajarich
Nomad
Posts: 464
Registered: 1-13-2005
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At Los Frailes it seems to be common to hear the plop, plop, plop of rays hitting the water all night long, as well as seeing them do summersaults in
the air in the daytime. I have come to the conclusion that they do it because it is fun. They look like they are designed to fly, and it must be
quite an experience for them.
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DanO
Super Nomad
Posts: 1923
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: Not far from the Pacific
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Diver
I've seen the rays jumping when fishing off La Ventana.
I was told by a local that the action was to help dislodge parasites. |
Hey, what an awesome idea. I've definitely got some parasites I need to dislodge.
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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Sallysouth
Super Nomad
Posts: 1835
Registered: 10-9-2003
Location: Capo Beach
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Mood: missing Baja...
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Diver is right!It is probably a fun for them too and feels good!
Happiness is just a Baja memory away...
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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I just perused the internet and came up with nothing.
My opinion is that they don't do it for the jumping but for the landing. What impresses me is that don't jump forward and they don't enter the water
as a diver, head first. No, they just splat down flat on those extended wings. Sometimes they just flip over and over straight upwards before coming
down.
So, I believe that that impact is what they're after.
I think the answer has to do with the benefit that comes from that.
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Lee
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3466
Registered: 10-2-2006
Location: High in the Colorado Rockies
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Mobulas have the largest concentration in the Cortez area. Common on the Pacific side of Baja. Snagged (another) few days at Punta Lobos shore
fishing. 10-15 pounds, dead weight in the sand, hassle getting off the lure, they bleed easy. MX eat them, I'm told. Little/nothing is known
about them.
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
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Mood: Mellow
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Osprey
To my knowledge the only rays that commonly "jump" are mobulas. I have swum with and photographed mantas, mobulas, eagle rays, bat rays, torpedo
rays, marble rays, southern sting rays, golden rays, and probably a few others and as far as I can remember, I have only seen mobulas actually "jump"
and clear the water. The prevalant theory among marine biologists is that they do this to dislodge parasites, but if that were true it seems that all
pelagic rays would do it, and they don't. So my theory is that, like whales, they just like it.
[Edited on 1-21-2011 by Ken Bondy]
carpe diem!
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DianaT
Select Nomad
Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
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And for some great pictures of these, check out this thread from a nomad who has become a good friend of ours.
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=30622#pid3091...
And I like Ken Bondy's thoughts---it is just fun---sounds good to me.
edit---having trouble for some reason getting the link to work---works now
[Edited on 1-21-2011 by DianaT]
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Stickers
Senior Nomad
Posts: 571
Registered: 4-12-2006
Location: SoCal
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Given enough time 100,000 years or so I think they could be good flyers resembling a B-2 Stealth Bomber while airborne. It's nice to see Nature
staying in-tune with modern aircraft designs.
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baitcast
Super Nomad
Posts: 1785
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: kingman AZ.
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Mood: good
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A great shot of these guys playing follow the leader.
Anyone can catch fish in a boat but only \"El Pescador Grande\" can get them from the beach.
I hope when my time comes the old man will let me bring my rod and the water will be warm and clear.
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DianaT
Select Nomad
Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
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| Quote: | Originally posted by baitcast
A great shot of these guys playing follow the leader.
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Pat and Cindy do really nice photography that can be seen on their website-----quite a few Baja Pictures are there.
Every Mile is A Memory
They are in Florida right now, but will be back in Baja---we wish it was going to be soon!
[Edited on 1-21-2011 by DianaT]
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Baja&Back
Senior Nomad
Posts: 549
Registered: 9-10-2004
Location: Vancouver, Canada / todo de Baja
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Mood: Rarin' to go South!
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You watch them carefully - each Mobula will jump three times in a row.
Locals in Los Barriles say it's a mating thing. (but then, locals in Los Barriles think EVERYTHING has to do with mating)
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baitcast
Super Nomad
Posts: 1785
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: kingman AZ.
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Mood: good
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Anyone can catch fish in a boat but only \"El Pescador Grande\" can get them from the beach.
I hope when my time comes the old man will let me bring my rod and the water will be warm and clear.
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
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I asked Mick Chapman director/instructor of Cortez Explorers Scuba Dive Center in Mulege. Mick has a degree in marine biology, has lived and dived all
over this beautiful blue planet and knows his fish.
Here's what he said, verbatim:
"The rays that most frequently "jump" here in the Sea of Cortez from experience are Mobula. Sometimes tens of thousands of them all heading in one
given direction. They are from the genus Mobula, a member of the Eagle Ray family, Myliobatidae. There are a few reports of the giant Pacific Manta,
Manta birostris also jumping here in the Sea of Cortez, although sadly, I have not had the pleasure of seeing them.
I most certainly have seen Manta jumping though, that is M birostris, down in the Red Sea from Egypt south to Eritrea. I have seen as many as 18 of
these magnificent beauties "playing" if you will, all at one go. This was at a very small atoll close to the Yemen, and we had these animals with us
for five solid days. We left and sailed south, they did not. They looked like large white plastic bags when they used to go belly up and cruise the
surface waters. They would jump, play, call it what you will, and come crashing down at any body angle, seemingly oblivious to any pain or harm.
I have seen one animal in particular basically dance with my female buddy at the time, turning first backward somersaults, then forward. Fish and
woman danced together for some five to six minutes before this 4,000 lb beauty broken contact after ignoring me totally. She, that is the manta stayed
close to my buddy the rest of the dive, yet never again "danced." The fish initiated the contact, Jacqui did not.
Having seen Mobula, Manta and even Eagle Rays jumping and cavorting almost endlessly at times, I believe they are doing two things. One, having fun,
two, ridding their bodies of parasites. Having said that, I have seen Manta lining up at "cleaning stations" in such diverse places as the Red Sea,
Celebes Sea (Borneo) the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. They line up and wait their turn for the cleaner wrasse to literally eat the parasites off
their bodies as well as inside their mouths and gill rakers.
So to me, from my own observations and experiences, the rays in general, and here in the Sea of Cortez especially, the Mobula, jump for the two above
mentioned reasons. Fun, and dislodging those parasites that the wrasse cannot, do not, or have not reached. And it must be remembered that there are,
at least to the best of my knowledge, not such animals here in the Sea of Cortez as "Cleaner Wrasse." I do not know if there are any other species of
fish, or indeed invertebrate that would/could perform such cleaning duties in this part of the world..
Mick Chapman
PADI Course Director 53358
Cortez Explorers
PADI 5 Star IDC Facility 21073
The Ocean is my playground
And the marine creatures, my playmates "
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
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Mood: Mellow
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Great information Mulegena, beautifully stated and from a man who has been there 
Thank you very much for this and thank Mick.
carpe diem!
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El Jefe
Super Nomad
Posts: 1027
Registered: 10-27-2003
Location: South East Cape
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Pancake Fish! That's what my neighbor Rod calls 'em.
No b-tchin\' in the Baja.
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