This giant freshwater stingray was caught as a part of a National Geographic expedition in Thailand this week. It weighed in at a whopping 550 to 990 lbs and was as wide as a full grown man is tall. For the record, that would be one huge, painful barb to be stung by. The expedition was searching for "Megafishes" as a part of a documentary on Earth's 20 largest freshwater fish.
The gargantuan ray is one of the 200 species of rays and is currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN red list. Little is known about their ecology since fishing decimated their populations. The National Geographic expedition hopes to learn more about this rare and enormous beast.
Personally, I hope the special comes out soon! It'll be one I'll be sure not to miss!
6 comments:
i think it's interesting, but to be honest, i'm sad to see it in that little pool and wish they'd let it go to finish it's life out in the wild
Oh! I should've mentioned that - I believe they did let it go, they just brought it in for measure and record.
550-990 pounds represents a rather large uncertainty! Is that a typo or did the stingray really give them a hard time while they were weighing it?
I thought you'd hit entrecard's front page soon! Happy blogging.
OMG!!!!!!!!!!
That pool is TINY!!!!!
wow that is so big. Never had a clue they could be that big.
Last year they found a smaller (body length at least) one also in Thailand that gave birth to a single dinner plate sized baby in front of the researcher.
At these sizes I feel for any molluscs and crustaceans in their path!
Post a Comment