Oh yes! It's beautiful how they move. I like how they move their sides--are those their pectoral fins?--up and down; it's like wing beats. How wonderful that you got to touch them!
Yes, rays' winglike sides are pectoral fins (to the best of my knowledge).
Because water resistance makes rays' flight-like movements slower than the wingbeats of birds, I actually find their movements more enjoyable to watch than the movements of any birds I know except maybe swallows.
The internet tells me that rays feel smooth when stroked in one direction, and sandpapery-rough when stroked in a different direction, like sharks do, but I only remember the smoothness.
As far as I can remember, the baby bat rays in the petting pool were about 8 to 10 inches across, from wingtip to wingtip, and dark-colored above but light-colored on their undersides. Watching and touching them is a very fond memory. 😌
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Because water resistance makes rays' flight-like movements slower than the wingbeats of birds, I actually find their movements more enjoyable to watch than the movements of any birds I know except maybe swallows.
The internet tells me that rays feel smooth when stroked in one direction, and sandpapery-rough when stroked in a different direction, like sharks do, but I only remember the smoothness.
As far as I can remember, the baby bat rays in the petting pool were about 8 to 10 inches across, from wingtip to wingtip, and dark-colored above but light-colored on their undersides. Watching and touching them is a very fond memory. 😌
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