Tag Archives: Eagle Rays

The Numbers Game #100

Small planes at Upolu Airport, Hawaii
A fly-in at Upolu AIrport

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 222. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Shadows. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #82

A bee flies to an ohia lehua flower in Hawaii.
A bee approaches an Ohia Lehua flower.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 204. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Simply Red. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #70

The beach at Honoka’ope Bay.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 191. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Looking back at 2024 – Part 2

A Great Frigatebird flies off the Kohala coast in Hawaii
July: A Great Frigatebird (here).

Sunday Stills challenge theme this week and last week is ‘Your 2024 Year-in-Review.’ See more responses here. As before, I’m going with a favorite photo from each month of 2024, with a caption and link to the post the photo first appeared in. Last week, I posted favorites from January through June (here). This week, it’s July through December.

Spotted Eagle Rays in the waters off Hawaii
August: A trio of Spotted Eagle Rays (here).
An attention getting pirate at Honokohau Harbor, Hawaii
September: Everyone’s favorite pirate (here).
Spinner dolphins in the waters off Hawaii
October: A trio of Spinner Dolphins (here).
A surfer off Keokea Beach Park, Hawaii
November: A surfer takes to the air (here).
A pink Bougainvillea grows in the lava on the South Kohala coast in Hawaii
December: Bougainvillea in the lava (here).

Spotted Eagle Rays

Spotted Eagle Rays in the waters off Hawaii

During yesterday’s swim, my wife and I saw five Spotted Eagle Rays. These three (photo below) were the first of them. One swept around and kept going, but two of them came straight on and passed close by. Then they turned around and came back again. They went back and forth for a while before finally heading out after the other one.

  • Spotted Eagle Rays in the waters off Hawaii
  • Spotted Eagle Rays in the waters off Hawaii
  • Spotted Eagle Rays in the waters off Hawaii

Shortly after this, we saw a fourth one apparently following after the others, and a couple of minutes later, a fifth one appeared and zipped by in the same direction. All five were of a similar size and probably juveniles.

A swim is generally a good way to start the day, but an encounter like this makes it even better.

Eagle Rays spotted

Spotted Eagle Rays in the waters off Hawaii
Spotted Eagle Rays in the waters off Hawaii

Yesterday, in the water, I saw these three Spotted Eagle Rays heading my way. They were on the smaller side, but all in excellent condition, except for the slightly larger one that had lost much of its tail. The three made several languid loops around my wife and I before they finally eased away into shallower water.

The second photo gives a good view of the ray’s spiracles. They have one on each side, just above and behind the eye. These openings allow them to pass water through to the gills, even when they are digging for prey and churning up a lot of sand.

Spotted Eagle Rays in the waters off Hawaii
Spotted Eagle Rays in the waters off Hawaii

Winging it

A Great Frigatebird flies off the Kohala coast in Hawaii
A Great Frigatebird glides over the ocean off the Kohala coast.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Wings.’ See more responses here. Let’s start with the birds.

There are many winged insects too.

You can also find wings in the water

And there are other wings too.