Rays are like flying kites in the sea. Some rays, such as manta rays and eagle rays, move by flapping their big flat fins up and down — a bit like how birds flap their wings.
Step-by-step:
- Look at a bird: it moves its wings up and down to fly through the air.
- Rays have wide fins called pectoral fins that look like wings. Inside those fins are muscles.
- The muscles push the fins down and pull them up. Each flap pushes water back and the ray moves forward — like flying underwater.
- By flapping, rays can go forward, turn, and glide smoothly through the ocean.
Examples: Manta rays are big and graceful. Eagle rays have a more pointed shape. Both can flap their fins like underwater wings.
Try this activity: Stand up, stretch your arms out like wings, and slowly flap your arms up and down. That is how a ray 'flies' under the water!
Fun fact: Some manta rays can be as wide as a small car — they look like huge flying wings in the ocean!