I was on a dive yesterday and was able to drift onto a couple of stingrays having sex. The entire event was a first for me and a great experience. The rays danced vertically through the water along the bottom while 4 or 5 more rays swam a perimeter around the couple and me. Eventually the dance stopped and the rays settled to the bottom at 96 feet and stayed their for 4 or 5 minutes.
The rays were spinning and fluttering in the water...
I am pretty sure the male is on top here...
Just about to hit the bottom. The male is holding the female with his mouth in this photo...
What an amazing encounter. Your images are stunning! Congratulations! I am wondering if you could share a little more information on the actual "dance." Could you elaborate on what it entailed? From what little I've seen the male is usually pursuing the larger female. Was this the case as far as you can tell? I'd also love to know during what time of day and where this took place. This might shed some light on the possibilities of seeing similar behavior again. Thanks. Again, a very big congratulations on some stunning imagery of rarely seen behavior.
That is quite amazing.. I came upon 2 stingrays mating only once before, in california, but I was not able to get the beautiful photos that you got. In my case, the water was murky, and I only got 1 shot from far away with my tokina 10-17mm, as the stingrays were separating. There were no other stingrays around.
Fantastic sequence! especially the last shot where the male is holding the female, that is incredible.
Scott
Great sequence of a rarely seen or photographed event. Thanks for sharing.
