A record-breaking stingray capture, by the numbers:
1 rod and line
90 minutes for one British biologist (with help) to reel in the freshwater fish
13 men to drag said fish onto a boat
125 pounds—that's the difference between the stingray's weight at 771 pounds and the previous record rod-&-reel capture of a catfish
The Thailand capture of the massive female stingray was part of a program to tag such Maeklong River residents. The captive, part of a "vulnerable species" listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, measured a hefty 7 feet by 7 feet. That doesn't include the 10-foot-long poisonous tail.
Such creatures are dangerous, of course: Famed Australian TV personality Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin died from a stingray barb at the Great Barrier Reef in 2006.
The numbers currently put one Ian Welch on the world record books. (Pictures of Welch posing with his female companion can be found here.) The stingray's resistance nearly dunked Welch into the river, and he was literally saved by the seat of his pants when a crewmate grabbed his trousers.
Another reason that this marine fish is so huge: She's pregnant. (Cue soap-opera gasp.) After she had been towed to the bank (too big to be onboard the boat), she was duly marked, had DNA samples removed, and returned to the river whence she unwillingly came. Welch gave her a farewell smooch, then spent the rest of the day with a cold beer and memories of her.
By the way, one number isn't known: the exact stingray population count, which has shrunk 20 percent in the past decade. With this lady's help, at least one more will be added to this number...and with a tale to tell.
On another note, are sting rays classified as fish?
On another note, does anyone eat sting ray? Surely japanese must make sushi out of it, I mean they make sushi out of damn near everything including the soles of hobo feet, they have to eat sting ray, or Thai's must have sting ray curry or something.
Wow this is fcuking Scary.. WTF... The deeper the ocean gets the bigger the animals are.. Do you guys believe in the Lochness monster ? Cause I do.. with a sting ray being allowed to be this big why is that so far fetched
I'd be scared as f*ck if I was in a kayak and all of a sudden that thing swam under me and all you saw is a huge patch of darkness!
I was snorkeling about 10 years ago off the coast of Hollywood Beach in Florida when I saw a Manta Ray all the way at the bottom and to this day it is still the largest sea creature I've seen up close. It had to have been at least 8-10 feet across. I was 18 or so or maybe younger, but I got the hell outta there as fast as I could.
I'd be scared as f*ck if I was in a kayak and all of a sudden that thing swam under me and all you saw is a huge patch of darkness!
That happened to me and my brother when we kayaked in the virgin islands. It was a beautiful blue sting ray with white spots. It just glided under the water with all the coral right underneath it. Scared the shit outta me though.
yeh big ish in the sea scares me more than anything, biggest thing i swam with was this ugly baracuda looking/eel looking 6 foot long thing in the red sea, scared the crap out of me, a ray or a whale, if i swam near a massive one id die of fear
Ha, yeah that stuff can be scary. I've scuba dived in the presence sharks but they never snuck up on me or anything so after the initial fear dissipates it's really quite awesome. The scariest experience I had in the ocean is when I was kayaking in the Florida keys on my way back from a mangrove I had camped at. Long story short but I was w/ my old man and this dude he knew who navigated this trip. My old man and him had a falling out while on the mangrove and he proceeded to leave us the next day (dude was nuts). So we're at least 4 to 5 miles from shore and lost in the ocean (not a good feeling, not seeing land 360 degrees). Anyway I'd been kayaking for hours, was lost, scared, fatigued, etc and all of a sudden I see these fins pop up along side of me. I remember going into shock and almost tipping the kayak. Once I relaxed I noticed they were dolphins and they rode along side of me for a couple minutes and I honestly believe they guided me to land. True Story.
Last edited by MarloStanfield : 02-26-2009 at 05:29 PM.
jesus how long was that kayaking that you couldnt even see land? Did you sleep on the kayaks?
Florida keys are tiny. So you don't have to go too far out to really be out there. Although when we were lost since we were probably kayaking in circles I was kayaking at least 6-8 hours.
i went to grand cayman island when i was a teen and we took a boat ride out to these little islands, the water was crystal clear blue and the sand was white... we started getting near one of the little islands and the sea went black, the place is called "stingray island" and the sea floor was literally covered in stingrays. we got out and snorkled and it gave me the willies about as bad as i've ever had them, you wear flippers and they tell you not to step down on the ground, but these things just slither all around you, pretty freaky sh*t. they were just run of the mill foot long guys though, nothing like this bad boy.
Giant Stringray Captured
