Jungle Jim
Guest
The small, 12" round stingrays of several species around PP live like this............
They congregate in certain mostly sandy spots in the spring for their ritual mating thing.
They warm up with the sunshine in the shallow water which gives them a boost for the frolic.
If you think the ones that you actually see mean anything, just put on a wetsuit and snorkle and go off the beach a bit. Sometime there are literally thousands of them.
They swim in short bursts and do a quick flutter when they stop and touch the bottom, that covers them with a thin veil of sand. They can easily be spotted if you look for their two froggy eyes protruding above the sand.
Go to Cholla Bay at low tide and you can see their hunting methods, actually trapping methods would be the correct term. There are thousands of 12" roundish holes in the mud where they construct and regularly return to with the incoming tide to hunt for crustaceans that took refuge during the previous receding tide. Typical food items are Ghost Crabs, Pistol Shrimp and Fiddler Crabs.
When in the water and not being harassed they are very friendly and actually seem to want to play, something kinda like hid and seek. When they know you see them they take a ten or twelve foot run and bury themselves again. They seem to never tire of this but when they do they take off like a rocket and are gone for good.
Their only enemies other than humans are sharks. Locally, the Scalloped Hammerhead is numero uno. On the East coast Bull Sharks target them which is why humans get hit in shallow water by them. In Miami, I've seen big bulls caught from shore with dozens of stingray stingers on their snouts.
Their meat is actually quite tasty, more often than not being passed off in the Malecon as "Escalopa". The Mexicans eat almost every species of ray and the meat is sold as "Manta Raya". The salted and dried carne seca de manta is quite tasty and can be keep for a long time without refrigeration. All it takes is a soak in little hot water and you have the fixins for some good tacos or burritos.
If you have an incredibly painful sting in your foot you can easily cure it by sticking a knife in your other foot and twist it around a bit.
JJ
They congregate in certain mostly sandy spots in the spring for their ritual mating thing.
They warm up with the sunshine in the shallow water which gives them a boost for the frolic.
If you think the ones that you actually see mean anything, just put on a wetsuit and snorkle and go off the beach a bit. Sometime there are literally thousands of them.
They swim in short bursts and do a quick flutter when they stop and touch the bottom, that covers them with a thin veil of sand. They can easily be spotted if you look for their two froggy eyes protruding above the sand.
Go to Cholla Bay at low tide and you can see their hunting methods, actually trapping methods would be the correct term. There are thousands of 12" roundish holes in the mud where they construct and regularly return to with the incoming tide to hunt for crustaceans that took refuge during the previous receding tide. Typical food items are Ghost Crabs, Pistol Shrimp and Fiddler Crabs.
When in the water and not being harassed they are very friendly and actually seem to want to play, something kinda like hid and seek. When they know you see them they take a ten or twelve foot run and bury themselves again. They seem to never tire of this but when they do they take off like a rocket and are gone for good.
Their only enemies other than humans are sharks. Locally, the Scalloped Hammerhead is numero uno. On the East coast Bull Sharks target them which is why humans get hit in shallow water by them. In Miami, I've seen big bulls caught from shore with dozens of stingray stingers on their snouts.
Their meat is actually quite tasty, more often than not being passed off in the Malecon as "Escalopa". The Mexicans eat almost every species of ray and the meat is sold as "Manta Raya". The salted and dried carne seca de manta is quite tasty and can be keep for a long time without refrigeration. All it takes is a soak in little hot water and you have the fixins for some good tacos or burritos.
If you have an incredibly painful sting in your foot you can easily cure it by sticking a knife in your other foot and twist it around a bit.
JJ
