double trouble....

pelicans at San Remo, Victoria

Pelicans are synonymous with Australian beaches......
from Port Fairy to Barwon Heads,
Sorrento to San Remo,
and on up the coast to Sydney and beyond,
 the pot-bellied bird is a hit with the locals and tourists.

at Phillip Island, the employees of the local San Remo Fishermans Co-Op have been  feeding the pelicans daily for many years.....

......every day at noon the pelicans gather for their free feed.

can you see what the people are looking at?

but it is not only the birds that are attracted to a home-delivered meal!

....a  family of large stingrays also started turning up for their free lunch.

he has spotted them....see their ripple-wash

they would circle and hover in the shallows, actually herding the pelicans away from the action!

but the local Rangers became concerned for the tourists in the shallows, trying to get too close to these amazing creatures, and they're also concerned for the safety of the stingrays themselves.

So feeding the rays by the Co-Op was banned   :(

....but they still turn up, always on time at noon, forever hopeful of a free feed of fresh fish-gizzards and skeletons.

shadows in the shallows

stingray fin and pelicans

and still trying to herd those pesky pelicans away from their patch!

as these huge rays cruise the shallows, they're probably asking, 'where's mine? OK, the birds have been fed ... my turn....where's mine?'

'Double Trouble'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

'Double Trouble'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

'Double Trouble'
Jo-Ann Hunt©
'The Child Within Summer' Series
H 112x112cm
H44x44ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2011
sold

I did not find out about the stingrays until the pelican-feeding session was over....so it was only when I arrived home and checked my shots that I saw the ripples and shadows!

but this year I'll go back, hoping to  get up close and personal like this fellow...or maybe not!   : )


feeding the stingrays, 2010, San Remo, Vic
photo from 'theislandaccomodation.com.au
the rays can be 6 to 7 feet across, and over 300kg!






  and you can see video of the San Remo stingrays  being fed here


.....don't you just love the idea of fish being so smart that they can tell the time and have learnt to work the system!
                                                         



                                                                  Jo  x



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