Buckles Blog: Unidentified #3

Monday, March 03, 2008

Scan000010922, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Anonymous said...: I will never swim in the ocean again! All good designs really do come from nature - looks exactly like the AF flying wing. cc; 03 March, 2008 08:18
Anonymous said...: No worries. This is a filter eater., not a man eater.; 03 March, 2008 18:57
Anonymous said...: This photo looks faked. Though the man's hand is on the beast, the fins would not have been sticking straight out as shown unless they were somehow supported.; 03 March, 2008 19:21
Anonymous said...: Whether fake or real the animal is a giant manta ray.

I think one or the other of the big oceanariuam's have had them but I've been told they are difficult to keep because of the feed - -sort of like a whale shark.

That was the problem with the 15ft. or so "baby" gray whale kept for a year (1997-98) at Sea World in San Diego. They eat plankton, krill and the like which they strain though those monster baleen filters in the mouth. Sea World's keepers were worked to death trying to keep up the food supply which they just poured into the baby's mouth in huge quantities.

That could not contine so they released the baby back into the Pacific. While there he was a huge attractoin. And smart as heck.; 04 March, 2008 16:05

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