any thoughts on what this creature could be? seen in Qatar Gulf sea
Posted by saa_gee@reddit | marinebiology | View on Reddit | 28 comments
Posted by saa_gee@reddit | marinebiology | View on Reddit | 28 comments
1mjtaylor@reddit
Cormorant.
hemigrapsus_@reddit
Do you have cormorants in your area? That looks like a head popping up, looking around, and then diving back down.
saa_gee@reddit (OP)
yea however im pretty sure it wasnt a bird, I kept my eye on it the whole time, it eventually went deep in the water and never resurfaced
allants2@reddit
It can happen. These guys can swim long distances underwater.
call_sign_viper@reddit
They can go to some pretty crazy depths and be down there for around 3 minutes
saa_gee@reddit (OP)
when i got closer it was very clearly a fin , I would've noticed if it was a bird with a curved neck and bill, let alone the rest of its body on the surface or caught it spread its wing when it resurfaces or flies away. I wish I had better footage but I didn't take my phone with me when I got into the water to get closer. there were a few gulls around and other smaller birds and I've seen the socotra cormorant various times but not today. also stayed watching for over 30 mins, nothing really exciting happens here
seeing the footage I get why everyone is iding it as the bird, its movement certainly mimics the way cormorants dive into the water to hunt and the color fits, so u guys are not off but the footage is terribly pixelated that's why I provided further info about seeing it up close
call_sign_viper@reddit
Yeah tough to tell from my angle but cool sighting non the less!
saa_gee@reddit (OP)
thanks dude :) u guys are much nicer than r/sharks 5 star experience posting here thanks for being so kind <3
call_sign_viper@reddit
Gotta love the ocean!
call_sign_viper@reddit
I’d totally agree it’s a bird, saw one actually underwater on a dive in Cabo it was awesome
Edit: Socotra Comorant seems to be local
saa_gee@reddit (OP)
yea:) theyre incredibly beautiful and move in massive flocks during breeding season its breathtaking
mikki1time@reddit
Looks like a bird from the video but it could be a dugong if it wasn’t they like to stick they’re fat noses out of the water and usually chill in shallow areas
saa_gee@reddit (OP)
do dugong surface or fluke their tails? the worlds second largest dugong population is here so it could be. do u happen to know what water conditions they prefer or typically to get drawn to? id love to spot one
mikki1time@reddit
Not a lot of knowledge and I’d recommend you’d do your own research but they breathe air and they like to chill with just their head outside of the water. They eat kelp and other sea grasses so I know they hang in fairly shallow coastal waters
zoyaabean@reddit
It’s gonna be a bit hard to tell from a low quality video like this, but I’d say it’s some kind of ray because I think I see the fin flexing more than a shark’s or dolphin’s would, and at around 7 seconds it seems to flop and it looks like there’s two for a second, as if it’s a ray doing some kind of roll or flip? my guess would be some kind of ray with triangular fins. But I might be wrong, i’m not an expert
saa_gee@reddit (OP)
ive seen rays in the area before, but theyre usually small and swim close to the shore in a wispy manner. it wouldnt be surprising if it were a ray, but the fin in the video looks quite large. i see what u mean by the roll; i thought the motion at second 7 might be from it moving quickly and dipping in while its tail resurfaced. but honestly, though, i can't tell either the footage is so bad 💀💀
crm006@reddit
Do you guys ever get manta rays? They are huge.
saa_gee@reddit (OP)
not that i know of, but i know there are a bunch of cownose rays here, the fin is saw could've been a pectoral fin, and those rays have pretty sharp triangular fins, and they do stay on the surface manta ray look so mesmerizing tho slay
joysallyann@reddit
My first thought was it’s a bird!
pheechad@reddit
Almost certainly a diving bird. Most likely a cormorant.
boom-boom-bryce@reddit
Looks like a cormorant to me
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
[removed]
marinebiology-ModTeam@reddit
Your post was removed as it violated rule #8: Responses to identification requests or questions must be an honest attempt at answering. This includes blatant misidentifications and overly-general/unhelpful identifications or answers.
a_karma_sardine@reddit
Are there otters or mink in this area? The movements reminds me of a mustelids'.
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
[removed]
marinebiology-ModTeam@reddit
Your post was removed as it violated rule #8: Responses to identification requests or questions must be an honest attempt at answering. This includes blatant misidentifications and overly-general/unhelpful identifications or answers.
Sea-Bat@reddit
Ok so, I’m getting terrible internet out here & that’s not helping the video quality load 💀
But, it seems to be a dorsal fin fairly close to shore (initially) that darts forward quite rapidly and stops abruptly.
How would you describe its movement while you were watching? Were there bait fish or birds in the area?
Doesn’t seem like a dolphin imo, the shape, movement, being solitary etc.
What’s interesting is the fin stayed visible even as it moved out to sea, which means it chose to remain near the surface. Combined with the type of movements, that seems like a shark to me.
With some species and even with predatory fish of size, the dorsal fin only becomes visible at the surface because they’re willing to go into such shallow water (temporarily & usually to hunt or escape predators) and it renders the fin visible in the shallows because of their size. But in that case the fin will disappear again as soon as the water is deep enough. And this one didn’t.
saa_gee@reddit (OP)
sorry for the really crappy video
for more info, I was at the beach today (Gulf/Persian Sea) in the north of Qatar. It was a bit windy, the water was somewhat murky and cold, and the tides were low. As i was sitting and enjoying the view, i noticed what i assumed was a dorsal fin diving, resurfacing, and swimming around. I got excited and ran into the water to observe it more closely, but i didn’t have my phone with me at the time, so i only managed to get some blurry footage while i was sitting. I couldn’t capture more photos or videos since the creature kept swimming further out into the deep water. but with my naked eye, i was able to see the fin clearly, it was quite large, especially considering how far out it was swimming off to and the fact that i could still see it.
what could it be? The country has a butt load of whale sharks but I've never come across other sharks although I've heard we have some black tips, graceful/Queensland sharks, spinner sharks, hammerheads,, and others in the area. just last week i saw a washed up Sharksucker in the exact same spot, idk if that means anything tho. it could be a dolphin, I've seen some dark colored dolphins while jet skiing before or some type of ray? any thoughts?