19 August 2019

Something Fishy

Week 34; 11 August 2019 - Khiran

Over the Eid break, I spent an afternoon down at the mega Sabah Al Ahmed Sea City project in the south of Kuwait.

The lagoons and beaches offer some enjoyable places to swim and relax. Sadly, most visitors to these beaches lack any sense of pride and what should be the best beaches in Kuwait are strewn with litter left behind by people who are too lazy to take it back or just don't give a toss - it is really sad.

I found a quiet spot, cleaned it up and relaxed for the afternoon. 

Just before sunset, I packed up and walked in the shallows, back to my car looking for Sand Dollars (Pansy Shells). This is when I saw a small Ray feeding in the shallows, but as soon as it realised I was close it swam deeper. I put my kit down and waited and sure enough it came back and with my phone was able to get a few record images, so that I could get it identified.

Arabian Banded Whipray (Himantura randalli)


Thanks to Dareen Al-Mojil who confirmed the ID as an Arabian Banded Whipray and endemic Ray to the Arabian Gulf, which for me was the real plus. It's always great to see an endemic species in a country, however not much is known about this Ray's status.

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