An unlikely team of football-loving rays are causing a splash at SEA LIFE London Aquarium after playing their own version of the beautiful game. Diving may be frowned upon at the World Cup but inside the London Aquarium display tank there’s no need for VAR replays, as a variety of different species show off their skills as part of their new underwater football game to stimulate natural behaviours.
Ahead of England’s last 16 clash against Senegal this Sunday, a team of six rays took part in the enrichment game ‘refereed’ by expert Aquarists and featuring a hollow football filled with their favourite fish to encourage mental stimulation to mimic finding their food in the wild.
While the rays have the special ability to detect electric fields of living creatures when they pray for their food, in this case, the rays use their sense of smell to find their food. By using simple problem solving and great teamwork, the rays dive towards the feedable football then bat it back and forth for more food to fall out and eat.
