Southern California’s increasingly tropical-looking ocean just delivered another surprise.
A group of spinetail devil rays was spotted near the Nine Mile Bank off San Diego, an unusual appearance for a warm-water species rarely encountered this far north. Dramatic footage shared by whale-watching captain Ryan Lawler and spotter pilot Carl Sbarounis reportedly showed roughly a dozen of the rays cruising through the blue water.
Check out the link here, and watch it below.
It was Lawler’s “first-ever encounter with this Southern California exotic: a ‘spinetail devil ray!’” he wrote on Instagram. Sbarounis had a more colorful description, joking that the rays were “on their way to dinner with their bowties,” referring to the distinctive dark markings across their heads.
The sighting fits a pattern scientists have been expecting as unusually warm water and El Niño conditions reshape Southern California’s marine environment.
“In the near future, we may expect to see an increase in tropical or warm subtropical species,” Nate Jaros, vice president of animal care for fish and invertebrates at the Aquarium of the Pacific, recently told the Los Angeles Times. He noted that exceptionally warm years have previously brought unusual visitors as far north as Southern California.
Related: Could Super El Niño Bring Venomous Sea Snakes and Hammerheads to California?
Scripps Institution of Oceanography similarly notes that warmer North American coastal waters during El Niño can produce an influx of subtropical and tropical plankton and fish. In 2026, Scripps has already documented unusually high coastal temperatures, with record daily readings occurring repeatedly along California.
Spinetail devil rays (Mobula mobular) are pelagic animals with a circumtropical distribution. In the eastern Pacific, they’re much more at home in warmer waters farther south, including the Gulf of California, where summer aggregations occur.
Research shows tropical species have historically pushed north into Southern California during major warm-water events.
Despite the ominous “devil ray” moniker—and their impressive size—they aren’t sea monsters.
The rays primarily filter-feed on krill, zooplankton and small fishes. They do possess a small tail spine, unusual among mobulid rays, but they’re not regarded as an aggressive threat to swimmers or surfers.
Original Post from this site