Global Courant
Conservationists bagged a huge catch while mapping the waters between Connecticut and Long Island, New York, photos show.
While out on Long Island Sound, a crew caught a 400 pound stingray, along with a “large predatory fish” called cobia, according to a Thursday, September 28, Facebook post from Connecticut Fish and Wildlife. The department shared photos of both animals and amazed people in the comments with their size.
“Our Long Island Sound Trawl Survey crew never knows what they might see on any given day out on the Sound – yesterday was a standout example,” the post said.
In the photo, the stingray was lying on its “belly side,” meaning its belly was facing up, the post said.
The stingray, which like most other rays has a venomous barb, was 6 feet long and 6 feet wide, the post said. The maximum size of stingrays is about 7 feetaccording to field guide Sharks and Rays.
Despite their dangerous tails, stingrays are “gentle giants,” the post says, and avoid shallow areas where people typically swim.
Stingrays like the one seen on Wednesday, September 27, are found all along the Atlantic coast, from New England to Florida, conservationists say, but a sighting in Long Island Sound is “relatively rare.” They prefer “temperate and tropical seas,” according to Sharks and Rays.
“Rather than try to roll the animal over, our crew took some quick measurements and immediately put the ray back in the water to watch it swim away alive,” conservationists said in the post.
The crew’s other catch of the day was cobia, which can grow up to 6 feet long, the post said. They are typically “most common” south of the Chesapeake Bay, the post says, but climate change has made them “an increasingly common visitor to Long Island Sound.”
Being cobia known for eating crabs, shrimp, squid and other small fish, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program. They are also considered somewhat aggressive when an angler reels them in as they typically fight back.
The two catches were part of the Long Island Sound Trawl Surveywhich aims to measure “the abundance and distribution of fin whales, squid and other macroinvertebrates” in water, according to the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.
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