These large rays gather in numbers at Seacliff beach, and they happily interact with people in the water there.

They will swim around people, approach them and even nibble their toes.

Some of the rays have got monitoring tags on their backs.

People pay big money to travel overseas to experience a lovely beach and this type of activity, so we are very lucky in South Australia to have this occurrence here.

There is an urgent need to fully protect the rays at this site because there is a high level of vulnerability due to the site’s high level of accessibility to the public (incl. shore-based anglers, especially night fishers, when no one is around, etc).

A permanent interpretive signage promoting the protection of the rays has been erected at Seacliff beach by the City of Holdfast Bay. This excellent information sign is located on the south side of the shelter by the car park: –

It states that they are mostly a female population of rays, and the only permanent based population known of, although other temporary populations are known to exist.

There is a live camera under cover at the Seacliff SLSC that allows you to check out the beach & sea conditions before you make the trip down to Seacliff to view the Seacliff Rays.

The live camera footage can be seen at https://www.ipcamlive.com/slsc

There is now a 100 cm maximum size limit for rays and a catch limit of 2 per fisher.

Most of the eagle rays at Seacliff are well over 100 cm, the average being 130 cm wide, so these new rules should protect a lot of the population.

If you see anything suspicious, contact Fish Watch on 1800 065 522.

A website has been set up at https://www.the-shark-and-ray-collective.com/ to communicate the information, and PIRSA has updated their website at https://pir.sa.gov.au/recreational_fishing/rules/species_limits

Several smaller rays have been sighted at the Seacliff site. Scientists aim to determine if the site is a nursery, which is important for the management of the site.

Several rays have been sighted with their tail & barb cut off. Chloe Roberts from the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University says, “This leaves them with no defence again predators, and there’s a large vein running through their tail so they could easily bleed out if it’s cut off. Their venom is not deadly, and they have much shorter and less mobile tails than other rays so it’s quite easy to handle them and not get hurt”.

(We have posted some video footage of the Seacliff Rays on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w2B9wDrtxk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWBtT3RiYuc ).

Our thanks go to Chloe Roberts, College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University for her assistance.

By Steve Reynolds

Steve Reynolds is the current President of MLSSA and is a long-standing member of the Society. Steve was a keen diver, underwater explorer & photographer before illness struck. He is chief author of the Society's extensive back catalogue of newsletters and journals.

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