Massive school of swarming stingrays seen off Alabama coast, drone video shows

A huge school of stingrays were seen swimming along the Alabama coast, seemingly swarming a Gulf Shores pier, drone video captured.

From overhead, the cownose rays can be seen clearly in the emerald-green water, migrating together, as sharks rove at the edges of the school.

“I had heard about the migration in the past and always wanted to capture it but had no idea it would be happening when I was shooting that day,” drone pilot Travis Middleton told Storyful.

Middleton was scoping out the damage left by Hurricane Sally in September when he spotted the migrating rays, but shared the video on Nov. 24.

“For the first time flying my drone I felt a little nervous just because it was such an overwhelming thing to see,” Middleton said. “It was truly one of the more beautiful things I have had the chance to capture.”

Cownose rays are generally docile and only use their venomous stingers when threatened, according to OCEANA, a sealife advocacy group.

The species’ migration patterns, and what triggers them to swim great distances, are “not fully understood,” according to OCEANA. They are known to travel in schools ranging in size from thousands to millions.

Some experts believe cownose ray migration is influenced by changes in water temperature and sun orientation, according to the St. Louis Zoo.

This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 4:07 PM.