A few days ago, I was reading about the birth of a baby giant manta ray in an aquarium in Japan. First, I was interested to hear about the first birth of this type in captivity but as well, I wondered the physical impossibilities of delivering a baby that was 1.8 metres in size. It must have been a tough one. Luckily for the mother, the youngster basically unfurled it's large wings after leaving her mother's body.

However today I learned that the ray was found dead in the bottom of the tank. Experts believe that the death was the result of harassment and injury by the father. You can read about it here and also get access to the video of the birth. It was also in this article that I learned about the actual birth process as did the keepers at the aquarium.

It was also interesting, yet quite sad, that the death resulted from the behaviour of the father. I suppose that this happens with many animals in that one or both of the parents caused the death. Nature can be beautiful but can also be cruel, I suppose.