Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdonian beach walker rescues stranded Cuckoo ray

Leona Lowe spotted the washed up marine animal during a dog walk on Aberdeen beach.

cuckoo ray
Cuckoo ray rescued off Aberdeen beach. Image: Leona Lowe.

An Aberdeen woman rescued a stranded Cuckoo ray that had washed up on the beachfront.

Leona Lowe was out walking Casper, her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel along Aberdeen beach on Monday morning when she came across the ray.

Aberdeen resident Leona Lowe with her dog Casper and partner Kendal.
Leona Lowe with her dog Casper and partner Kendal. Image: Leona Lowe

She said: “It was lying on its back and it took me a minute or so to realize what it was. I’ve lived near the beach for ten years so it’s not something you come across very often.”

The mysterious animal was a Leucoraja naevus, which is more commonly known as a Cuckoo ray or Cuckoo skate.

The two are often confused, according to Philip Smith, an Aberdeen University lecturer with the School of Biological Sciences.

Skates and rays look similar, but skates usually have shorter tails.

Leona Lowe said: “I could kind of see it was still moving so I realized I had to do something.

“But it did look quite sharp the tail. So I pulled down my jumper and tried to as gently as possible pick up its tail.”

Ms Lowe was right to take precautions, according to marine biology expert Philip Smith.

He said: “I wouldn’t recommend handling it, as it has thorns along its tail and a slime on its back that can be filled with bacteria.

“If you got a puncture wound from the thorns and then some of the slime in it, it could get infected.”

The Cuchoo ray washed up on Aberdeen beach.
Leona Lowe was cautious of the cuckoo ray’s spiny tail while moving the creature back into the North Sea. Image: Leona Lowe.

Leona Lowe was able to successfully return the animal to the North Sea, wading into the water to ensure it could escape the shore.

This is not Leona Lowe’s first encounter with unusual wildlife in Aberdeen. Back in 2020, she spotted the unusual Hoopoe bird while walking her dog near Pittodrie, generating a fervour among bird-watching fanatics.

Rare Hoopoe bird spotted near Pittodrie in 2020 by Aberdeen resident Leona Lowe.
Leona Lowe spotted this rare Hoopoe bird near Pittodrie in 2020. Image: Leona Lowe

She said: “I’ve been quite lucky actually. A couple of instances of pretty rare wildlife right near the city centre. So it’s amazing what we have here.”

Conversation