{"id":284441,"date":"2026-02-14T22:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T22:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/284441\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T22:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T22:24:15","slug":"suddenly-one-shot-to-the-surface-id-never-seen-anything-like-this-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/284441\/","title":{"rendered":"Suddenly one shot to the surface… I’d never seen anything like this before"},"content":{"rendered":"

A scuba diver in the\u00a0Maldives<\/a>\u00a0was enjoying the view of a large group of eagle rays when one individual suddenly raced up to the surface and leapt out of the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout 20 metres away, they were all moving together like they were playing\u2026 and suddenly, one shot to the surface,\u201d says\u00a0June Arrieta Fern\u00e1ndez<\/a>,\u00a0who shared the underwater view of the breach on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s pretty common to see schools of eagle rays<\/a> around here, but I’d never seen anything like this before.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

See the amazing moment the eagle ray shoots to the surface. Credit: June Arrieta Fern\u00e1ndez<\/p>\n

There are a few theories why marine animals, including\u00a0rays<\/a>,\u00a0whales<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0some sharks<\/a>\u00a0breach<\/a>. It might be to do with communication, courtship, removing parasites<\/a> or for the sheer joy of leaping free of the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so beautiful to see it rise so fast and then dive back down with the rest of the school,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Fern\u00e1ndez filmed the eagle rays in the Maldives. Credit: June Arrieta Fern\u00e1ndez<\/p>\n

Image and video credit: June Arrieta Fern\u00e1ndez, @junearriet<\/a><\/p>\n

More amazing wildlife stories from around the world<\/p>\n