A Sunny Day with A Surprise from Below

It is a beautiful day, the sun is out, the skies are blue, time to head out and go fishing.  You and your buddies decided to do a little deep water fishing in the big blue ocean.  You are having a great time catching all sorts of fish, maybe some yellowtails and a few mahis.  The fish are basically jumping in your boat you are so good.  Maybe you should try your luck, go out for a marlin or some sailfish.  As your boat is moving slowly along, a huge splash, the sun is eclipsed.  The creature, so massive blacked out the sun in mid-jump.  A large bat like creature with horns just jumped out of the water.  This creature is huge, about 18 feet across.  The creature flips over your boat and dives back into the water.  You boat rocks back and forth from the waves caused by the creature, jumping out of the ocean like a demon bursting out of hell.

The Manta Ray

Better call a priest, you have just encountered the sea creature known as the Devil Fish.  Back in the day many fisherman would proudly catch these Devil Fish, take them to dock and show the world how they faced the devil and won.  These Devil Fish are actually the proud travelers of the seas, the Manta Ray.  The Manta Ray is part of the Ray family, best known in this family is the Stingray.  The Manta Ray has a fearsome appearance especially when jumping out of the water, it looks like a giant bat when it jumps out the water.  On the Manta Ray’s head there are what look like horns, these horns are actually cephalic lobes that help guide plankton into the Manta’s mouth.  The Manta’s were often caught and attacked in the past because of its fearsome appearance.  We know now that the Manta is a gentle giant of the sea.

Amazing Rays

So if you are out on the open ocean and you see one of these amazing rays, take the time and enjoy.  You can also have a chuckle to yourself when you think of a priest helping you out with this “devil” problem.

‘Til next time…