Feb 28, 2009

That's Some Stingray

You're looking at the catch of the day, er month, er ... ever. That's the largest stingray ever caught. At seven feet seven inches, and 771 lbs, that's a lot o' stingray. And that length doesn't include the additional length for the poisonous tail (yeah, the one in the fisherman's hands).

British angler Ian Welch is credited with the catch, which took place in the Maeklong river of Thailand. Welch caught it as part of a tag and release program that's in place to help track the various fish populations of the Maeklong. It took 13 men to drag it to shore, where it was loaded into an inflatable pool, tagged, and then released back into the wild. Which is for the best: this stingray was so heavy in part because she was so pregnant. That explains her radiance, that subtle beauty and grace that only a gravid female can achieve.

Thanks for the article, Ida.



6 comments:

Vanessa said...

I love rays, and am so happy to hear that she was released back to where she belongs. Horray!

Anonymous said...

That is RAY-ZILLA. Oh my god. I think would actually freak out if I saw one that big. Little rays are cute... once they hit 'rug' size, I request the right to flip out.

Anonymous said...

These rays stick to the river bottom like a suction cup when caught and no amount of tugging can get them to let go. To get them to release their grip on the river bottom, the fisherman has to slide a big wad of tobacco down the fishing line.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to read she was released. At first, I thought the story was going they way of the largest Sequoia ever found: they were so excited, they chopped it down and it became the world's largest dance floor made from the stump of a tree.

mfb said...

Very nice story - I'm glad they released it in the end. Hopefully the stingrays offspring are now swimming all over the place.

Anonymous said...

This is totally on TV, national geographic, right now. haha