The Giant Shovelnose Ray is a species of fish found throughout the Great Barrier Reef and is usually sighted in shallow waters, including mangroves, estuaries and reportedly even freshwaters. This beauty was spotted by Skipper James who was snorkelling the rocks at the beautiful Whitehaven beach with some guests before stumbling across this gentle giant. Growing up to 2.7m in length, at full size, this is no small animal!
The Giant Shovelnose Ray has been tested for colour vision. This is the ability of an animal to identify between light composed of different wavelengths independently of light intensity. This was the first significant behavioural evidence for colour vision in any species of shark or ray!