You won’t believe how close these COWNOSE RAYS (they aren’t manta rays) got to me and the other shellers at the lighthouse! I hope this gives you some of the pleasure that we all had since we were lucky enough to have seen this in person.
You won’t believe how close these COWNOSE RAYS (they aren’t manta rays) got to me and the other shellers at the lighthouse! I hope this gives you some of the pleasure that we all had since we were lucky enough to have seen this in person.
Great pictures/video. What a privilege to see all those rays in shallow, clear water. Thanks for sharing. MK
Wonderful video! That is amazing to see the manta rays in so far to the beach. What were they after besides starring on You Tube? Good work,Pam.
I think these are probably cownose rays. They can travel in big schools; once on a shelling trip we saw dozens along the shoreline. Mantas are the big guys, like 20 feet across!
Wonderful! Add this to the list of things I’ve heard about from others and hope to see on one of my trips.
Truly remarkable!! Thank you so much for sharing. I bet that will be a day that the little boy & his father will never forget :)
Thank you for sharing! What an awesome site!!!!! It makes me miss Sanibel even more! I relive my shelling adventures vicariously through your website as I’ve only been there twice. In my dreams I’ll return — hopefully soon!
Very Cool! Does this happen often? How fortunate you are to experience Mother Nature this way! Long Live Sanibel!
Pam:
I’m very impressed with the job you are doing with your blog and web site. We will post a link on our web site to your blog. It’s shellicious.
I like the video! I’m always afraid when I see them and run the other way! Aren’t they dangerous? Videos would be cool more often!
Great video! We were down there 2 weeks ago and had a similar experience both at the lighthouse and off the beach at Casa Ybel. A man freaked out and came running out of the water screaming sting rays sting rays get out. LOL.
In answer to the question about cownose rays, they aren’t really dangerous but my daughter has been “stung” by one here in the Chesapeake bay. She bumped into it or vice versa while wading (she was wearing Crocs but wasn’t doing the sanibel shuffle). The tail nicked her ankle and she was in more pain than I have ever seen. It was a tiny 1/4 inch cut that barely bled but left a tiny barb behind. It took us a while but finally found a dr friend who told us warm water was the only way to make the pain subside. We finally dug out the microscopic barb but it was a very long few painful hours.
BTW, love the blog and read it always!!!
Thanks you guys for teaching all of us the correct name of these beautiful creatures- cownose rays- and for helping answer some of these questions about the stinging. I didn’t know a lot about them either until you all helped with good info. Also, I looked at that link I inserted, I realized that they don’t feed on fish…..they feed on clams and bivalves. They stir the sand to get them surfaced so they can get at them.
We were there and witnessed these in person as well. Great memory!! Wonderful to see these in person. Thank you sooo much for posting this video. Melissa, Pam, Emily and Luna
Hi Pam, I’m the Pam who was in the water with the cownose rays when you were filming( the name is appropriate since their noses stick out and look like cows’).I knew I was lucky to have experienced this, but didn’t realize how much so until I saw your video. Probably a once-in-a- lifetime experience. I hope I run into you again because I definitely will be back! Thanks for filming this. Pam
That is an interesting and excellent video Pam! What a great experience and clear water to film them as well. Thanks for sharing it and thanks to those who also left valuable information. :)
OMG Pam, what an awesome sight! It’s like watching an underwater ballet. You go girl! Bonnie
This video is so remarkable!!! Thanks for sharing it!! Those are such wonderful creatures of the sea!!!! I really enjoyed this video….I’ve already watched it three times!!! Dovie
A few years ago at the end of our stay we went down to the beach at Gulf Pines to say goodbye, didn’t bring cameras, and saw these beautiful rays right at the waters edge. We stopped counting at 200. We were so disappointed not to get pictures. I will never forget that experience. Thanks for sharing, love your website.