What’s the difference between a stingray and a manta ray?
A manta ray didn't kill Steve Irwin.
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!..............
I’d accept a Stingray or a Manta Ray if someone wanted to give me one. Corvette, that is.
There are a bunch of different rays. At our marina in Ventura, Ca certain times of the year the water by the gangways is full of bat rays and skates. I love watching them.
A stinger.
Also, manta rays are huge. When I was a kid out in the water near Tampa, a pair of manta rays came in among all the folks swimming and began playing with people on floaties/mats. One even came up under mine and very gently and slowly pushed mine around in an arc, then submerged, then did it to someone else, before coming back. I remember the dark shape coming up from below and its ‘wingtips’ emerging on both sides of me, with maybe 10 feet between them. I don’t know if they were friendly or just trying to scratch their backs, but clearly they enjoyed doing it.