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771 Pound Giant Freshwater Stingray

February 26th 2009 14:24
It took 13 men, 90 minutes to drag the 771 pound sting ray onto the boat using 1 rod and line. Ian Welch is in the records for his catch, which beat the 2005 646 pound catfish that was caught in 2005.

The stingray measured nearly 7 feet by 7 feet, which does not include the 10 foot tail that trailed behind him.

The large stingray nearly dunked Welch into the river, but he was literally saved by the seat of his pants by his crewmates. These creatures are very dangerous, and I wouldn't think the sting from the 10 foot tail would have had a nice ending for Welch.

The stingray was pregnant when captured, which means one day there will be more giant stingrays swimming loose in the river because yes, after taking DNA samples and marking the creature, Welch released her back to the waters.

This find is actually a good thing, as the giant freshwater stingray population has decreased at least a good 20 percent in the past decade and is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list, so with this giant creature's help, the population will hopefully be on the rise in the future, but only time will tell.




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5 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by moonglow

February 26th 2009 15:12
Wow! I didn't know they got that big!

Thanks for sharing the picture!

Comment by James Rickard

February 26th 2009 20:09
Nice write up! I wanted to do a post on this but won't have time tonight.

Comment by Lilla

March 2nd 2009 23:24
Whitney,

yes, after taking DNA samples and marking the creature, Welch released her back to the waters.

Yes! that*s the line I was waiting to read, otherwise I would hav had some terrible things to say.. overjoyed now to know Giant Mama*s like this exist.

I wonder if they are being found becuase they too have had to change their feeding/mating grounds due to human expansion?

Great Post.

Lilla ...

Comment by Whitney

March 3rd 2009 13:53
Lilla, agree that it would have been wrong to not have released her, but since they are red flagged as endangered they had no choice. Plus being that Welch is a biologist, he wasn't going to not release the stingray, as it was field work and research.

It is possible that human expansion has caused the giant freshwater stingray to have become giant, but I'm also willing to bet that it's naturally giant. But, I have no clue...

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