Suna Mandara

In the mid 1990’s strange, circular drawings were found on the sea floor off the coast of Japan. Beautiful, circular drawings in the sand measuring approximately 7 feet across. It was discovered that the artist behind these sand mandalas was a newly discovered species of puffer fish. The small, approximately 5 inches, male puffer fish would work days moving sand and constructing the peaks and valleys of the design simply by flapping his fins, then decorating his work with bits of shells. The laborious design is all to attract a mate. If the female puffer fish likes the design she will lay her eggs in the fine sand at the center for the male to then fertilize.