03:25Sea turtle hunts food chase electric ray
This is a video my brother and I took with a drone in November. It's of a loggerhead sea turtle hunting and eating what I believe to be a lesser electric ray. Fun fact, these rays have electric organs to shock prey, but they aren't very effective for defending against a hungry turtle it seems. I think this may be a rare and unique behavior, as I couldn't find any other references to sea turtles hunting rays. Interestingly, the wikipedia page for loggerhead sea turtles has an extensive section on their diet, listing many things they eat, but rays are not included. This suggests this might be one of the few documented instances of this behavior. The clip is a bit long, but the most notable moments are at the beginning, when the turtle is chasing the ray, and later, when it has the ray in its mouth and surfaces with it. Unfortunately, I didn't get footage of the moment he caught it :( My battery died and by the time I changed it, and flew back, he had already caught it. Anyway, super unique and cool video thought you would enjoy, and could edit down and share.
01/27/2025
