Giant Stingray Caught In Thailand (Photo)

Posted on February 26, 2009

A giant stingray was caught in Thailand, and it took 13 men to capture the massive creature. And this 775 pound giant stingray is pregnant. Read more on the giant stingray below.

Metro.co.uk reports that professional fisherman, Ian Welch, and 12 other men battled the giant stingray in Thailand.

It was said to take about an hour and a half to struggle with the 775 pound stingray before it was captured.

Ian Welch, 45, captured the giant stingray in the Maeklong River in Thailand while aiding in tagging the endangered creatures.

From the Telegraph UK:

This fish measured 7ft long and 7ft wide, while its long sting measured 10ft.

It has smashed the previous record of 46 stone for a huge catfish caught in 2005.

Mr Welch, a freshwater biologist, had been visiting Thailand to help with a stingray tagging programme when he landed the fish on the Maeklong River.

The 45-year-old said he was nearly pulled over the side of the fishing boat when the specimen took his bait.

He said: “It dragged me across the boat and would have pulled me in had my colleague not grabbed my trousers – it was like the whole earth had just moved. I knew it was going to a big one.

“It buried itself on the bottom and the main fight was trying to get it off the floor.

“I tried with every ounce of power but it just would not budge. After half an hour my arms began shaking and after an hour my legs went.

“Another 30 minutes went by and then I put a glove on and physically pulled the line with gritted teeth and somehow I found the reserves to shift the fish.”

Once the stingray was off the bottom 11.5 stone Mr Welch, from Aldershot, Hants, managed to lift it 30ft to the surface.

He said: “As soon as we saw it there was just silence because everyone was just in awe of this thing.

“That line from the film Jaws came to mind about needing a bigger boat because we had to get it to the shore to tag it.”

The group managed to put a 12ft wide net under the fish and towed it to the bank.

Mr Welch and the team released the stingray, which turned out to be a pregnant female.

The giant freshwater stingray is listed as a vulnerable species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list.

Although its numbers are unknown, experts believe the population has dwindled by 20 per cent over the last 10 years, making the possibility of extinction extremely high.