Giant Stingray (or Manta Ray) Caught in Peru

This time it isn't photoshop, this giant is real. Mixed feelings now, sad to see such a magnificent beast dead.

A stingray about 8 feet long and more than 1,000 kilos of weight was caught by a handmade craft creek near Tumbes La Cruz, as reported by the News Piura 3.0 page.

A user of social networks identified as Kelly Cruz Cumpen animal photographed last April 18 and shared images. To move the specimen a crane was needed.

As reported by Andina, this morning, the prosecutor Crime Prevention of Tumbes, Felix Quinde Feijoo, was alerted to the discovery so he contacted representatives of Instituto del Mar del Peru (IMARPE), in order to document the fact .

The stingray is a species that unlike other enforcement lacks poisonous sting in the tail. It is the largest of the rays and can grow to 8.4 meters in wingspan and weighing 1,400 kilos.

elcomercio.pe...

a reply to: Trueman

It looks like a manta ray.
They are harmless plankton feeders.

Looks like a Manta Ray. I one day would like to swim with a few of them in the south pacific if I can afford the travel.

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: Trueman

It looks like a manta ray.
They are harmless plankton feeders.

Yeah, I think you're right. Well, at least I'm sure it won't be wasted. They'll probably eat it.

a reply to: BASSPLYR

Title edited

Yay yet another great Leviathan has been eliminated for pure ignorance.

Seriously why? Kill and capture it? Just cause it was huge?

Folks, this what's wrong with our human species. Show off's!

a reply to: butcherguy

The South East Pacific is home to the largest documented population of Manta Rays in the world, with over 650 individuals having been identified in Ecuador. Although protected in Ecuador, these rays are believed to migrate seasonally into Peru, where their presence is poorly studied, and they receive no protection at all.

I'm not going to post pics because it is simply too upsetting. I am affiliated very closely with the Marine industry and this just breaks my heart.

Prepare yourselves...........www.oceanhealthindex.org...

Aaaw, there goes another magnificent creature.


a reply to: Trueman

a reply to: Sublimecraft

Thanks for the link.
I had no idea that people ate them. I knew they were fairly rare.
It makes me sad, and I was already sad.

a reply to: Sublimecraft

There are still peoples needing substance from many sources to sustain themselves in the world .Walmart and MacD's are not every where . Beautiful creature though .

awesome creature, I'm sure it wasn't the fishers intention to catch the biggest manta ray possible...it just happened.

I'm more concerned of all the emotional humans on this thread and the sources. .. if only you showed such compassion for your own species then one sea creature that 1000x fold the human race.

I understand empathy, but this emotional over a creature that has already been replaced via reproduction of the other million manta rays in the world...

What a backwards species, humans are ...

Thanks for sharing, sorry to trip more emotions

At least if its fate was to be fished, it was caught on a handmade line and not in an industrial net or long-lining operation or something like that. I'm sure that fisherman earned his catch.

a reply to: Elementalist

I am a fisherman. I had a meal of tile fish that I harvested from the floor of the Atlantic twice this week. I killed those fish and wasn't sad about it.

Manta rays have a slow reproduction rate, having one pup every 5 years.
They are listed as a vulnerable species.
I don't want to see them go the way of the passenger pigeon.

originally posted by: BASSPLYR
Looks like a Manta Ray. I one day would like to swim with a few of them in the south pacific if I can afford the travel.

They are amazing to swim with. Eagle rays are even more beautiful in the water. It is a surreal experience to swim with these things. They are underwater birds.....amazing.

My next trip will be going to a small island in Mexico in June to swim with whale sharks....never done it but I hear it is an awe inspiring experience.

I highly recommend swimming with creatures such as this one....very peaceful and lets you know just how little we matter yet how large our impact is on the world.

a reply to: Elementalist

The animals deserve to be here more than we do for the most part.
I'm always puzzled when I see this response and there is one like it in every animal related thread..do threads where bad stuff has happened to people get ignored?

They are a common creature, and growth to this size is not unusual.

In the not too distant past, they were called 'devilfish' by the inhabitants of darker waters, where they are difficult to spot basking at the surface.

They can decimate a bateau, or a modern vessel in a skinny minute if you startle them.

I doubt that ray was eaten. In a warm climate, there is a short window to properly dress them.

It was likely dumped back in the sea, or the landfill.

Sad to be sure.

a reply to: butcherguy

I agree that it's sad this was what the guy caught, but just from the scant information provided, I'm guessing he wasn't gunning for Manta Ray either.

Aw, what a shame, a once majestic creature. Too bad wish it was Photoshop and if it wasn't the animal was to be observed in nature for it's shear size instead of meeting this demise. Was it hunted for foo or another reason? I do hope from nature's loss, at least, it nourishes those in need as opposed to being sold to the black market, etc.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: butcherguy

I'm guessing he wasn't gunning for Manta Ray either.

When it gets right down to the jiggy ... that's probably what burns people the most. There's always somebody who wants to drag in the beast instead of cutting the line.

I've no exposure to the commercial fishing industry and have no clue what the ROI is for bagging a huge manta ... but I bet it's not really worth it. Maybe Sublimecraft will come back by and enlighten us.

I've done the in-shore manta dives several times. Very interesting creatures. They often seem as interested in checking us out as we are of them. I've also seen 'the big ones' out in the open ocean. They're very reclusive out there.

to see this magnificent creature hung on hooks,
to feed the ego of "fishermen" makes me sick.
bet they feel like big men now.