Researchers document startling golden cownose ray behaviour in Galapagos Islands

Golden cownose rays are beautiful animals that are often found in schools. They inhabit the Pacific ocean in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala and a few other countries. These rays were observed in the Galapagos Islands at a depth of 30m (100ft). They circled and descended upon a sandy bottom and flapped, gulping the sand and debris. They lifted off and spat sand out and then circled back. This behaviour was repeated several times.
Biologists who had come to this dive site to observe and study mola mola, the largest bony fish in the world got more than they expected when this school of rays appeared. The researchers had filmed mola mola minutes before and they were now moving to the rock wall to begin their ascent. They had seen the golden cownose school earlier in the dive, closer to the surface.
At first glance, this behaviour seems like feeding. Golden cownose rays detect mollusks and shrimp with electro sensors and they dig into the sand to inhale their prey. But these rays were seen gulping large quantities of sand and rapidly spitting it out through their gills. It is believed that this specific behaviour may be a means of cleaning parasites out of their gills.
More work will be done to learn what these rays were doing and why. These cownose rays are just one of the amazing species of animal that can be found in the Galapagos Islands.