Endangered eagle ray pups make public debut at Aussie oceanarium
Two endangered eagle ray pups are gliding through their early milestones after their same-day birth at an Australian aquarium in a win for the species – here’s a first look at the newborn boys
READING LEVEL: GREEN
Two endangered* eagle ray pups are making waves in Queensland, with the newborns making the move into the Oceanarium Bay of Rays habitat* at SEA LIFE Sunshine Coast.
Born on 16 March to proud parents Nova and Eddie, the two male pups are thriving, according to their smitten* keeper Jesse Hart.
“When they’re born, they’re actually rolled up like a newspaper, so that’s how they’re birthed,” Mr Hart said. “After that, they kind of unravel and they’re about the size of a dinner plate when they’re born.”
Mr Hart said the rays have a “very long trailing fin” close to a metre long that they’re born with. The new boys in the hood are also eating like kings.
“In the wild, they would be looking for molluscs* and crabs and anything that lives in the substrate*,” Mr Hart said. “We’ve had them onto prawns and mussels and squid … delicious!”
While they share a birthday, the brothers already show very different personalities. One pup has quickly emerged as the more adventurous sibling, confidently exploring his surroundings and swimming up to inspect guests, while his bro is still a little on the shy side.
“Having them in the aquarium here is a great way for us to help educate and make people aware of the dangers, in terms of fishing and pollution and a number of other things,” Mr Hart said. “In Australia, they’re pretty well protected but worldwide they’re classed as endangered.”
One of their biggest natural predators in nature is the hammerhead shark, but sadly their numbers are declining too.
“There’s not a huge amount of pressure of natural predation* from those guys,” Mr Hart said.
GETTING TO KNOW EAGLE RAYS
More of a solo than social species, one thing that many visitors wouldn’t realise about the rays is that an eagle ray’s nose is very dexterous*.
“They can actually move it around a lot,” Mr Hart said. “They’ll use their nose to move sand and substrate around to hunt for stuff and they kind of use it like an extra appendage* or a finger, a large finger to poke around in the sand to find food and prey.”
But the nose is not Mr Hart’s favourite feature, despite its surprising and useful tricks.
“They’re quite beautiful little guys,” he said. “Their mouth on the bottom … I think they look like they’re swimming around smiling all the time.
“Out in the wild, you wouldn’t be lucky enough – or very rarely – to have them actually swim over the top of you.
“They would generally skirt you at quite a distance and you’d probably only see them from the side profile. You get a really unique view of them (smiling) here at the aquarium.”
The pups have only just been released into the larger bay. With 3m in depth and “millions of litres” of water, they’re now mingling with fellow residents including tawny nurse sharks and shovel-nosed rays.
Quinn Clarke, General Manager, SEA LIFE Sunshine Coast said that “watching the eagle ray pups thrive has been incredibly special for the team”.
SO YOU WANT TO BE A KEEPER
Mr Hart said his path to becoming the newborn eagle rays’ keeper started with his studies in environmental science. He was then an intern at SEA LIFE.
“I just loved it,” he said. “I’ve pretty much worked here since.”
Mr Hart spent Wednesday morning diving in the tank with them.
“One of the two new pups is extremely inquisitive,” he said. “He came down and fed out of my hand today; he had a big chunk of squid and some prawns.”
One of the best and most interesting parts of being a keeper, he said, was “(seeing) the different personalities of all the animals in the aquarium”.
“A lot of the time, people think fish don’t have a memory or anything like that,” Mr Hart said. “But they certainly do. They all have their own little personalities and quirks and it’s nice to be able learn about each individual as well as the species as a whole.”
Right now, though, he only has eyes for the eagle rays.
Eagle rays globally classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). For more information about visiting the ray pups and their proud parents, head to visitsealife.com/sunshine-coast
POLL
GLOSSARY
- endangered: in danger of becoming extinct
- habitat: the natural environment in which an animal or plant usually lives
- smitten: having suddenly started to like or love something or someone very much
- molluscs: any animal that has a soft body, no spine, and is often covered with a shell
- substrate: substance or surface that an organism grows and lives on and is supported by
- milestone: an important event in the development or history of something or in someone’s life
- predation: the killing by one living organism of another for food
- dexterous: skilful or adroit in the use of the hands or body
- appendage: something smaller and less important part of something larger
EXTRA READING
Hurt manta ray begs Aussie snorkeller for help
Stingray pregnant without mating
‘Pink Panther’ manta ray spotted off Qld
QUICK QUIZ
- When and where were the eagle ray pups born?
- Which part of their body do they use as a large finger?
- What is one of their main predators in the wild?
- What are they being fed in the aquarium?
- What is the species’ conservation status?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Swim with the pups
Imagine that you could go swimming with the eagle ray pups. Write a description of your experience. Make sure that you help your readers feel like they are swimming with you with lots of descriptive words! Use information from the story to help you.
Time: allow at least 30 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English
2. Extension
Do you know why the eagle ray pups are more protected in local waters than in other parts of the ocean? Brainstorm your ideas. How do you think this situation could change? Write paragraphs explaining your ideas on this question.
Time: allow at least 30 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Geography, Civics and Citizenship
VCOP ACTIVITY
Animal alliterations
With a partner, choose one of the eagle ray pictures from the article.
Make a list of nouns you could use to name the eagle ray in the picture. For example, instead of a tiger, you could also say cat, or feline.
Pick your favourite noun and identify its initial sound — what sound it starts with, not necessarily what letter.
Now, using the initial sound, make a list of adjectives to describe the animal. Try to be specific. Don’t just look at the animal as a whole, look at their different features as well.
Build on these same sound words, and add any verbs and adverbs you could use to describe the animal and their movements.
Try to put it all together and use as many same sound words in a sentence, to create an alliteration about the animal in the picture. For example: the terrifying tiger, tiptoed through tangled trees chasing his prey.