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Every year, between May and July, the Sea of Cortez transforms into one of the world’s most breathtaking scenes: the mobula ray migration. The rays, which are also commonly referred to as flying rays, travel in enormous groups called “fevers,” their diamond-shaped bodies gracefully gliding through the water. Sometimes, they’ll even break through the waves, launching themselves up to 6 feet into the air all while flapping their long fins. This past season, several divers managed to snag imagery of the ray migration, including photographer Aidan Bedford.
In a video posted to his Instagram in June, Bedford demonstrates just how incredible mobula rays and their annual fevers can be. His footage showcases a seemingly endless expanse of rays, each of them gently floating through the ocean. Their bodies slowly part the water and with the precision of an acrobat, they create an altogether mesmerizing scene. Notably, mobula rays are often cautious, if not skittish, around humans, given that they’re prey rather than predators. When traveling in these massive groups, however, the rays are typically easier to approach.
“This is the largest known migration of rays, anywhere on Earth,” Bedford writes in the post’s caption. “It’s one of the most amazing wildlife spectacles we have here in the Baja.”
When viewed from above, the spectacle is just as stunning. In another video, Bedford assumes an aerial perspective, capturing a steady procession of mobula rays. This framing offers an intimate glimpse into the sheer scale of the migration. Still, there’s arguably something slightly more hypnotic about swimming alongside these fevers, rather than observing them above the ocean’s surface—at least that’s what Bedford believes.
“Gliding underwater, surrounded by a fever of mobula rays, truly gives you the feeling that you’re really flying,” he muses.
Even so, mobula rays have historically been threatened by commercial fishing, which emerged in and around the Sea of Cortez in the 1980s. Within a few decades, some ray species in the area were nearly wiped out, and similar declines in numbers have been reported in the oceans around the Philippines, Indonesia, Mozambique, Madagascar, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Brazil, and Tanzania. Mobula rays are currently listed under CITES Appendix II, which keeps record of species that are “not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled.”
Luckily, mobula rays and their migratory fevers are still a common sight in the Sea of Cortez each year. Countless expedition companies offer itineraries dedicated to meeting these incredible rays, including Bedford’s own BajaRAW Tours, based in Baja California Sur.
Every year, thousands upon thousands of mobula rays migrate through the Sea of Cortez in massive groups known as “fevers.”
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Mobula rays are known for their graceful, acrobatic movements—including launching themselves up to 6 feet out of the water.
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Aidan Bedford: Instagram
Sources: When the ocean heals: the timelessness of mobula rays; The Americas’ Stunning Footage of Leaping Rays, Blue Whales, and Dolphin Super Pods in the Sea of Cortez; The spectacular display of the mobula ray
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