The black pillow-shaped egg capsule comes from a ray. There are three common species of rays in Danish waters – Thornback ray, Common Skate and Thorny Skate and in addition there may be other species in the North Sea. Both the nail capsules of the Thornback ray and the Common Skate are approx. 6 cm long and 4 cm wide, the Thorny Skate capsules are significantly larger. The egg capsules found on the beach are usually empty, but they have been home to a small new ray for 5 months.
Did you know that:
The Thorny Skate is the largest ray in the North Sea and can be almost 3 meters from the wing tip to the wing tip.