Chris Iwanicki came across a shovelnose ray in shallow water recently and he wanted to take some closeups of its eyes.
“My vision was blurry at the time, and the mask probably could have been cleaner(?) but I took some photos, although I could not see clearly what I was photographing.”
“In reviewing these pictures, which aren’t in great focus (as I was overly buoyant, so it was very difficult to get a steady shot), I realized it looks very much that the ray’s eyes are actually closed in the closer shots.
“Do rays actually close their eyes or blink? I have heard how sharks can roll their eyes back in their sockets to avoid damage when attacking prey, but thought fish never blinked or closed their eyes.
“If these fish (shovelnose rays) can close their eyes, or blink, do other fish do the same?”
