Sharks and rays leap out of the water for many reasons, including feeding, courtship and communication
- Written by A. Peter Klimley, Adjunct Associate Professor of Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis
Manta rays breaching in waters off Costa Rica.Peter Loring, iStock/Getty ImagesMany sharks and rays are known to breach, leaping fully or partly out of the water. In a recent study, colleagues and I reviewed research on breaching and ranked the most commonly hypothesized functions for it.
We found that removal of external parasites was the most...










