A school of spotted eagle rays was observed frolicking close to shore at Mon Repos Beach on Sunday.
Kevin Hill captured the scene on camera and posted to Facebook.
“Noticed a bit of a kerfuffle near the shoreline at Mon Repos on this evening's walk,” he wrote.
“Off came the shoes and socks and in for some close-ups of at least four spotted tiger rays having fun in the shallows. Amazing experience.
Incredible to be so close to these beautiful rays, they came within metres of the shore.”
Natalie Lobartolo commented they were also there on Sunday morning.
The species occurs in tropical waters of the east-Indo-west-central Pacific. In Australia it is known from central coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north of the country and south to the central coast of New South Wales.
Spotted eagle rays do not pose a significant threat to humans, as they are shy and generally avoid human contact.
As active foragers, Shark Trust says they have a keen sense of smell. Sniffing out prey hidden in the sand, they then use their large snouts to dig them out.
Their flat crushing teeth can crunch through the hardest of shells, making short work of crabs, oysters and sea urchins.
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