Baby manta ray smiles after hatching from egg

These images show a newborn baby thornback appearing to smile for the cameras after it was hatched from an egg that was rescued during a conservation project in Spain. The ray's egg was accidentally caught up in fishing nets but was born under the new Majorcan 'Eggcase 2020' conservation project at Port d’Andratx on Saturday 19th September. The 4.3-inch (11-centimetre), 0.3-oz (8-gramme) ray is the first to be born from the Spanish project that started in June 2020. The project works with Balearic fishermen to recover shark and thornback ray (Raja clavata) eggs that are accidentally caught and giving them a second chance by incubating and rehabilitating them.