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.<\/p>\n
Born on 16 March to proud parents Nova and Eddie, the two male pups are thriving, according to their smitten* keeper Jesse Hart.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they\u2019re born, they\u2019re actually rolled up like a newspaper, so that\u2019s how they\u2019re birthed,\u201d Mr Hart said. \u201cAfter that, they kind of unravel and they\u2019re about the size of a dinner plate when they\u2019re born.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Hart said the rays have a \u201cvery long trailing fin\u201d close to a metre long that they\u2019re born with. The new boys in the hood are also eating like kings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the wild, they would be looking for molluscs* and crabs and anything that lives in the substrate*,\u201d Mr Hart said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had them onto prawns and mussels and squid \u2026 delicious!\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving 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,\u201d Mr Hart said. \u201cIn Australia, they\u2019re pretty well protected but worldwide they\u2019re classed as endangered.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of their biggest natural predators in nature is the hammerhead shark, but sadly their numbers are declining too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not a huge amount of pressure of natural predation* from those guys,\u201d Mr Hart said.<\/p>\n
GETTING TO KNOW EAGLE RAYS
More of a solo than social species, one thing that many visitors wouldn\u2019t realise about the rays is that an eagle ray\u2019s nose is very dexterous*.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can actually move it around a lot,\u201d Mr Hart said. \u201cThey\u2019ll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the nose is not Mr Hart\u2019s favourite feature, despite its surprising and useful tricks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re quite beautiful little guys,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir mouth on the bottom \u2026 I think they look like they\u2019re swimming around smiling all the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cOut in the wild, you wouldn\u2019t be lucky enough \u2013 or very rarely \u2013 to have them actually swim over the top of you.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey would generally skirt you at quite a distance and you\u2019d probably only see them from the side profile. You get a really unique view of them (smiling) here at the aquarium.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pups have only just been released into the larger bay. With 3m in depth and \u201cmillions of litres\u201d of water, they\u2019re now mingling with fellow residents including tawny nurse sharks and shovel-nosed rays.<\/p>\n
Quinn Clarke, General Manager, SEA LIFE Sunshine Coast said that \u201cwatching the eagle ray pups thrive has been incredibly special for the team\u201d.<\/p>\n
SO YOU WANT TO BE A KEEPER
Mr Hart said his path to becoming the newborn eagle rays\u2019 keeper started with his studies in environmental science. He was then an intern at SEA LIFE.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just loved it,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve pretty much worked here since.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Hart spent Wednesday morning diving in the tank with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the two new pups is extremely inquisitive,\u201d he said. \u201cHe came down and fed out of my hand today; he had a big chunk of squid and some prawns.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the best and most interesting parts of being a keeper, he said, was \u201c(seeing) the different personalities of all the animals in the aquarium\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the time, people think fish don\u2019t have a memory or anything like that,\u201d Mr Hart said. \u201cBut they certainly do. They all have their own little personalities and quirks and it\u2019s nice to be able learn about each individual as well as the species as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n
Right now, though, he only has eyes for the eagle rays.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
POLL<\/p>\n
GLOSSARY<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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 <\/p>\n
EXTRA READING<\/p>\n
Hurt manta ray begs Aussie snorkeller for help<\/a><\/p>\n