Posted on 03/17/2021 12:25:50 PM PDT by Red Badger
March 17 (UPI) -- A photographer taking pictures of a surfer at a Florida beach captured a rare shot when the man was photobombed by a wave-jumping manta ray.
Rusty Escandell said he was visiting the beach near Patrick Space Force Base in Satellite Beach with his son when he decided to take some photos of a surfer out on the water.
"To be frank with you, I was actually focusing on the surfer. I was doing a burst, catching several frames, and it wasn't until I got home and I was reviewing the pictures that I actually saw what was happening in the background," Escandell told WKMG-TV.
The photo captured a manta ray jumping out of a wave behind the surfer.
Escandell told WTXF-TV he estimated the ray was at least 8-feet long, "but probably bigger."
VIDEO AT LINK......................
https://youtu.be/xPpVcxU6LIk
Huge difference.
Both are relatively harmless unless you mess with them or step on a stingray. They burrow into the sand to catch small fish and crustaceans.
AFAIK, Mantas are free swimming open mouth feeders.
I saw a guy step on a stingray once and it stung him in the ankle. A grown man crying in agony!..............
Saw one hooked on the (now blown away) Mexico Beach pier. The fight lasted about 2 minutes before the humongous manta ray broke the line. He got on top of the water just like in the picture. It was very impressive. Just a note, it was hooked closer to the beach end of the pier in relatively shallow water.
I used to see one at Shalimar Bridge at sundown, and that’s what we called him, “Sundown”, because he would be there practically every day at sunset..............
Yup. Saw one there few years ago with a buddy surfing/boogie boarding.
photobombed simply means getting into a picture, accidentally or on purpose, where you are not the intended subject...............
I think I’ve seen this in a Roger Corman movie.
Yep. Grew up there in the 60s and 70s. Still live nearby.
I used to pier fish a lot in a previous life.
When anyone hooked a ray, if it had any size at all you had to just cut the line. They just don’t “reel in”. And no real fight, they just go sideways, or dig in the sand, and its like trying to pull in a rock. Yeah you can do it, but its not that fun IHMO.
Recently I have seen piers that have a “release rig” of sorts that the pier crew pulls when rays get hooked, but I’ve never seen it work.
I used to frequent the Jupiter inlet in the late 70s and snorkel for sinkers and lures. I saw a school of manta coming in right at the entrance, in the middle. The water was so clear on incoming tide you could see them easily. (Saw from the seawall, not in the water).
It’s west of Inverness, which is west of The Villages, which is west of Orlando, which is west of Merritt Island, which is west of the Cape on the Space Coast!
The Sea Devil
Fun little short story that scared the crap out of me when I was young.
The eagle stingray in the Gulf of Eilat must reach 12-15 feet wide at its widest. Its shadow can scare hell out of divers.
"The Sea Devil", by Arthur Gordon
Fun little short story that scared the crap out of me when I was young.
Racists!
That should be womanta ray.
Mantas are so cool. They look like they are from outer space.
That was my first thought about sting rays.. they have this single sword like horn and it pierced Steve Irwin’s heart in a freak accident.
Womanta Ray to Manta Ray...
“Dear, does this new barbed tail make my butt look big?”
“No, of course not darling. Actually makes it look shrimpy.”
“Oh hon...you’re so sweet.”
So why is histerectomy not herterectomy?
Or Hernia not Hisnia?
Medical terms are a whole different ballgame.
I’d accept a Stingray or a Manta Ray if someone wanted to give me one. Corvette, that is.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.