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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Underwater Bubble Blowers User Group Thread NEW

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Tom Hamilton said:
Spotted Eagle Ray threat display, Kihei Bay, Maui, a couple of weeks ago.

These critters are normally very shy, all of the clips I have in my library until now are drive-by's only. This one, however, allowed me to follow him closely for almost three minutes before warning me off. Here is the last 30 seconds or so of the sequence.
Click to expand...

Tom, in Palua these rays are like cattle.....all over and of all sizes and shapes...some HUGE cow head suckers there. And they fly beautifully...kind of mesmerizing.
 
Tom Hamilton said:
Spotted Eagle Ray threat display, Kihei Bay, Maui, a couple of weeks ago.

These critters are normally very shy, all of the clips I have in my library until now are drive-by's only. This one, however, allowed me to follow him closely for almost three minutes before warning me off. Here is the last 30 seconds or so of the sequence.

Click to expand...

Great Tom, what frame rate?

Frazier
 
Johnny Friday said:
Frazier,
let us know what you discover...my receiver is actually NOT an OTS unit....i have an Explorer mounted on my Epic and then Kirby Morgan mask with all OTS gear...so mabye that is why i don't have a problem? But as you said, topside from the OTS (i think X100?) is pretty good to a record device.
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Yes, I love the OTS system, it's really the best for UW com, and the mask is comfortable even with my full beard, no leaks, don't really find myself using more air than normal. If the headphone volume control adapter works it will be a great thing, will let everyone know when I have the time to test in the pool.

Was shooting the special today with Ken Nedimyer and his coral nursery is totally amazing, he grows corals, no NDA, but will wait till after it airs to post a few frame grabs of his coral nursery, first time in a couple years that I've been there and he has started staghorn coral trees which are like a Christmas tree some are like over 10 ft. high. He's also transplanting both Staghorn and slower growing Elkhorns on the reefs to bring back some of the sites here in the Keys, in 20 years the transplants will be huge.

Amazing work being done at his nursery. Really cool stuff, loved seeing it all again.

Frazier
 
As they say you live and learn! I never knew that was threat behavior, always just thought it as muscle flexing or getting rid of small parasites etc. When I used to live in Palau I would always film one particular Eagle Ray at the Blue Corner site from a very closer distance, almost right on its 'shoulder'. It was happy with me there for a while just effortlessly gliding against mild currents but then when it had had enough it would give a couple of similar twitches and then bat its wings a couple of times and just leave me standing...incredibly cool critters.

Would that similar action in Mantas suggest a warning signal too? I've been in close proximity to numerous Manta Rays around Micronesia and here in Bali, and witnessed that muscular flexing on a number of occasions.

Cheers,
Mark.
 
Danger to Humans

Spotted eagle rays generally avoid close contact with divers. Usually a shy species, they are wary of divers and are difficult to approach. However, they are considered potentially dangerous to humans due to the venomous tail spines that can inflict serious wounds.

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They also exhibit two motions in which the abdomen and the pectoral fins are moved rapidly up and down: the pelvic thrust and the extreme pelvic thrust. The pelvic thrust is usually performed by a solitary ray, and repeated four to five times rapidly. The extreme pelvic thrust is most commonly observed when the ray is swimming in a group, from which it will separate itself before vigorously thrusting with its pectoral fins.
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Thanks Mark, a brief perusal of the web turned up the above two tidbits, the second describing the motion shown in the video very well, but doesn't say the why of it. Threat display is my assumption, perhaps it has multiple social uses for the animal.

In the Seychelles a couple of years ago, I was following a very large Southern Stingray, at one point it turned to face me and arched its tail, most definitely threat behaviour. You've got me wondering about this Eagle Ray maneuver though.

I'm assuming Palau is pretty well saturated with divers, would that be why they are not shy there?
 
Tom Hamilton said:
Spotted Eagle Ray threat display, Kihei Bay, Maui, a couple of weeks ago.

These critters are normally very shy, all of the clips I have in my library until now are drive-by's only. This one, however, allowed me to follow him closely for almost three minutes before warning me off. Here is the last 30 seconds or so of the sequence.

Click to expand...

I'm thinking it's not a threat display, but shaking off something unseen. Although you were following the animal but really not pushing the animal in any way. I had a similar Southern Stingray do something similar but I was kicking hard to stay up with the animal and after a bit it did a similar posture for me, I will see if I can post it to compare the threat display at some point. How do I embed the actual vimeo image on the REDUSER page? I always just posted the actual link but it's nice to have it in the posting.
 
Hey Frazier,

In the post icons above the message field you'll see a little film strip, hover your mouse over it, it says 'insert video', click, paste the Vimeo link into it.

I also have video of that Southern Stingray posture, very pronounced, I'll see if I can dig it up.

Note in the video the Ray's tail goes out the bottom of the frame, I was actually only a couple of feet from its tail barbs, right on top of the animal.

Anyone ever seen one of these fire a barb?
 
Southern Stingray, shot on EPIC at 5K

Southern Stingray, shot on EPIC at 5K


Here is the video clip of the Southern Stingray that did something similar. Sigma 14mm lens. Threat display or just shaking something off his body? I'd say getting rid of something.

Frazier
 
Humpbacks in Tonga

Humpbacks in Tonga

A couple frame grabs from HH in Tonga.

Mom and Calf wm.jpgCalf wm.jpg
 
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Crazy stuff that body language, especially of the marine kind. I guess there all lots of body motions that are as yet to be understood. If it's Rays you want, of the Manta kind here a select reel comprising some of the better footage from three and a half years living on the island of Yap in Micronesia. All crammed into about 11 and a half minutes...


Cheers,
Mark.
 
Damn Mark, that is astonishing footage, the Manta mating dances are so rarely seen, much less understood, even by marine biologists who study this stuff full time.

Love the direction this thread is taking, from pixel-peeping pedantry to capturing liquid truth, what these cameras have actually been designed to do.

Lead the way brother, save the planet, water our children to healthy growth, maybe Epic is the eye-opening way forward.
 
Mark_Thorpe said:
Crazy stuff that body language, especially of the marine kind. I guess there all lots of body motions that are as yet to be understood. If it's Rays you want, of the Manta kind here a select reel comprising some of the better footage from three and a half years living on the island of Yap in Micronesia. All crammed into about 11 and a half minutes...


Cheers,
Mark.
Click to expand...

I hate you too Mark for posting this cool stuff. I so wanna be there..

Ok, wonderful and nicely done...Was this in Bali?

I've got AMEX mileage you know...RTG, just let me know.
 
Tom Hamilton said:
Surf's up!

Hey Frazier, looks like Hurricane Isaac is right on top of you, everything ok?
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News hype is crazy, it's not that bad here, some wind and rain, it's all past us now. Still blowing and raining though. Wife and kids are home, rented a bunch of Redbox movies, popped some popcorn, I did shutter the house it's nice and dark inside. Perfect day to chill and do nothing but vege out.
 
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