Shark and stingray allow diver to record awesome up-close footage

Located just off the shore near Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, are some amazing sea creatures. The green sea turtle, spotted eagle ray and nurse shark are only a few that will be found in this beautiful area. Playa del Carmen is located within the Riviera Maya on the Caribbean Sea, which runs from south of Cancún to Tulum and the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve. The green sea turtles are a fairly large animal with a teardrop shaped shell. They are generally light green although some are a very dark almost black color. Most of the adults live in shallow lagoons foraging on sea grasses, but they are also seen at greater depths.

During breeding, the females crawl out on beaches, dig nests and lay eggs during the night. There can be over 100 eggs laid at each time. Later, hatchlings emerge from their nests in the snd and scramble into the water. These amazing animals when reaching maturity can also live to 80 years of age. The spotted eagle ray also seen in the video search for their food along the sea floor. These gorgeous animals are generally seen alone, but can be found also in small groups. During mating season, the females are impregnated and retain the eggs with themselves. When the eggs are ready to be release, they emerge into the sea as mini versions of their parent. This ray can be identified by its dark dorsal surface covered in white spots or rings. Near the base of the ray's relatively long tail, just behind the pelvic fins, are several venomous, barbed stingers. Spotted eagle rays commonly feed on small fish and crustaceans such as crabs and snails (conch for example), and will sometimes dig with their snouts to look for food buried in the sand of the sea bed. Mature spotted eagle rays can be up to 5 meters (16 ft) in length; the largest have a wingspan of up to 3 meters (10 ft) and a mass of 230 kilograms (507 lb).

The last beautiful creature seen in the video is the nurse shark. Generally a fairly docile shark, they are known to be seen laying motionless on the sea floor. Not to be misunderstood or taken granted for with their docile appearance and character, they are ranked fourth in documented shark bites on humans, likely due to incautious behavior by divers on account of the nurse shark's slow, sedentary nature. The origin of the name "nurse shark" is unclear. It may come from the sucking sound they make when hunting for prey in the sand, which vaguely resembles that of a nursing baby. Generally these beautiful sharks grow to around 10 feet in length and weigh in around 700 pounds. These nurse sharks being bottom dwellers use their strong jaws to crush and eat shellfish and even coral, but prefer to dine on fish, shrimp, and squid they find along the sandy bottoms. Generally not an aggressive shark, the nurse shark is known to only have a couple predators being the tiger shark and lemon shark, giving them the ability to live a long life with not much threat.