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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Aerial footage captured the jaw-dropping moment when thousands upon thousands of cownose rays gathered in Florida last month.
The video, captured by kayak company See Through Canoe, shows a birds-eye view of the rays gathering in Tampa Bay. Posted to social media on Feb. 11, the video also shows an up-close view of the cownose rays from a kayak.
“Although this is an unusually large school of rays, it’s not uncommon to see groups of rays with a few hundred to a few thousand individuals anywhere along the Gulf Coast or the Atlantic Ocean,” the company wrote on Instagram.
Credit: See Through Canoe Credit: See Through Canoe Credit: See Through Canoe
Cownose rays are often found in bays, estuaries, river mouths, and open oceans, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The rays form large schools that contain hundreds or thousands of individual rays and migrate seasonally in the Gulf of Mexico.
According to FWC, cownose rays mainly consume bivalve mollusks, crustaceans, and various other benthic invertebrates, such as clams, oysters and shrimp.
Cownose rays have a wingspan of up to 3 feet. The rays are non-aggressive and pose little danger to humans except for the defensive venomous barb near the base of their tails.
See Through Canoe specializes in making clear kayaks and has been doing so since 2007. The company has also been capturing stunning videos and photos of marine wildlife from the view of the clear kayaks.
Visit See Through Canoe’s Instagram and Facebook page to see more wildlife videos.
