Science is the poetry of Nature.
Contributing Authors

oceansoftheworld:

(Photo by Mark Laita)

The Leopard Whipray (Himantura undulata). This ray’s entire upper surface, including half of the tail, is covered in a pattern of circular brown to black rings just like a leopard. When undamaged, the tail is three times as long as the body and tapers to a fine point, like a whip, giving an elegant bearing to this beautiful ray. The young are born at 20 cm wide and grow to at least 140 cm across their wings. Leopard Whiprays are found in tropical waters from Shark Bay in Western Australia to at least the Queensland/New South Wales border; here they inhabit sandy seabeds in the open or near reefs and they feed on crabs, shrimp and shelled invertebrates. When resting they will cover themselves in sand for extra camouflage. Like most rays, they are considered to be harmless but their large size and serrated spine deserves respect.

(Source)

  1. hell0g00dbye reblogged this from bigronson and added:
    LEOPARD STINGRAY SWAGGA!!!
  2. bigronson reblogged this from oceansoftheworld and added:
    STINGRAY SWAGGA!
  3. luckyy-dayyy reblogged this from oceansoftheworld
  4. struthiomimus reblogged this from scinerds
  5. maureengrr reblogged this from oceansoftheworld
  6. iinrainbows reblogged this from oceansoftheworld
  7. ihopeitrainsthereallthetime reblogged this from oceansoftheworld
  8. simmerdown reblogged this from oceansoftheworld
  9. allthehumansaredead reblogged this from scinerds
  10. exsanguination8 reblogged this from halfman-halfocean
  11. italianturtle reblogged this from halfman-halfocean
  12. halfman-halfocean reblogged this from oceansoftheworld
  13. tybarbary reblogged this from scinerds
  14. scariari reblogged this from oceansoftheworld
  15. lizzylaughlove reblogged this from hardtobeoriginal
  16. cienciabio reblogged this from scinerds
  17. hardtobeoriginal reblogged this from scinerds
  18. rebelplatypus reblogged this from scinerds
  19. prince-katt reblogged this from oceansoftheworld
  20. mr0wl reblogged this from scinerds
  21. lecoeurclair reblogged this from scinerds
  22. bearonqueue reblogged this from scinerds
  23. newfriendly reblogged this from oceansoftheworld
  24. sirmandy reblogged this from scinerds
  25. stumblingsquids reblogged this from scinerds
  26. surelickholmes reblogged this from gracefree
  27. gracefree reblogged this from scinerds
  28. puke-ahontas reblogged this from scinerds and added:
    Almost stepped on one of these guys once. Glad I saw him in time!
  29. minjujube reblogged this from scinerds and added:
    never thought i’d say these words, but that’s one hot fish! or…is it a fish? are rays considered fish?
  30. the-masochistic-anachronist reblogged this from scinerds
  31. debunkingthemichelle reblogged this from scinerds