Flying Manta Rays in the Sea of Cortez during mating season.

[catbyte]

Link to tweet

[Aristus]

1. Mating season?

Shouldn't they be, you know, conserving their energy for the task ahead?...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Well, they're fish, and one doesn't really think of fish as doing it in a mammally sort of way,

but apparently manta rays do: "The mating sequence may be triggered by a full moon and seems to be initiated by a male following closely behind a female while she travels at around 10 km/h (6.2 mph). He makes repeated efforts to grasp her pectoral fin with his mouth, which may take 20 to 30 minutes. Once he has a tight grip, he turns upside-down and presses his ventral side against hers...." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manta_ray

[Aristus]

3. One also sees that kind of behavior in your average bar right before last call.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. I want to visit those bars.

I want to see guys leaping into the air and flopping on the floor in order to get women to go home with them.

[Aristus]

5. Find any place that serves Jaegermeister and then enjoy the show.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. It's a bird ! It's a plane ! It's ... It's ... You gave me the brown acid, didn't you ? nt

[A HERETIC I AM]

21. Finnish comedian Ismo discusses that line

[SunSeeker]

22. LOL. That dude is funny, in a dry, Finnish kind of way. nt

[Baitball Blogger]

7. Extraordinary!

[MicaelS]

8. Mantas are so beautiful. n/t

[Duppers]

9. ❤ this!

Rays are fascinating.

[yellowdogintexas]

10. What music would be good to go with that video?

For some reason, the Blue Danube jumped into my brain.

[TexasBushwhacker]

11. They can be over 20 ft across!

The record was 30 ft!

[zanana1]

12. Belly flops! nt

[OxQQme]

13. Belly flops!

[zanana1]

16. Those were great!

I only did it once and I couldn't believe how painful it was.

[Uncle Joe]

18. It's mating season

and the divers with the most profound belly flops usually get sex afterwards, mostly out of sympathy.

I read that on the Internet.

[burrowowl]

20. Ouff! Ouch!!!

[colorado_ufo]

14. I would hate to have one of these big guys land in my boat!

[IronLionZion]

15. They really like belly flops

guess it doesn't hurt them

[rwsanders]

17. Sea of Cortez also home to the world's cutest, shyest and most endangered porpoise: the Vaquita

https://www.firstshowing.net/2019/official-trailer-for-porpoise-rescue-documentary-sea-of-shadows/

For those who may not have a background on this issue, a few points:

1. The Vaquita is a unique, shy, beautiful porpoise who is a one of a kind. There are only a few left, current estimates say less than 10. This isn't losing a regional population of a species with a broader range, vaquitas are only found in the Gulf of California. They are so shy, they were only seen by scientists in the 1970's and few pictures exist that are not of dead vaquitas.

2. The best thing for the vaquita and the fisherfolk would be a NO GO reserve. Research has shown that marine reserves IMPROVE fishing in the surrounding waters.

3. Species with historically low populations DO NOT have the inbreeding problems that result in other species that experience genetic bottlenecks. The current hypothesis is that all deleterious genes have been eliminated.

4. EXTINCTION IS FOREVER!!

5. Sea Shepherd needs your help.

6. This is NOT a historic fishery, as fishermen came to the area primarily to fish for the totoaba to send to the Chinese. In the past the fish were left to rot while the bladders were shipped.

7. Fishing gear that is safe for the vaquita does exist and sustainable catch should be supported so the fisherfolks can make a living. The government of Mexico has held back from permitting the new gear (reasons unknown).

[keithbvadu2]

19. B_I_G_! Manta Ray

Last edited Thu Jun 6, 2019, 08:56 PM - Edit history (1)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181181050

[DFW]

23. Mantas are awesome creatures

While my younger daughter was at her school in Hawaii, one one trip, she suggested we go on a night dive in the ocean to see them. I was a little nervous about a night dive due to the sharks, but she said no one had ever been attacked where they go, so I said OK. Just before sunset, they take you out to a spot where someone installed some huge lights on the ocean floor, about half a mile off shore. Then a scuba diver goes down and turns them on. I am not scuba certified, so I had to remain on the surface with a snorkel.

The lights attract plankton, which in turn attracts the mantas. These huge fish then come "flying" in and put on an incredible show. Some of them were performing underwater somersaults right in front of our noses. It was one of the most unforgettable things I have ever experienced.

This video may seem staged, but I promise you, it's exactly what you see.