If you’ve ever had occasion to see a giant ray gliding gracefully through the water, you understand what stunning creatures they are.
Prehistoric in appearance, stingrays and other rays possess an elegance of movement that is rare on land or sea.
Most stingrays are relatively small, but nature conservationist Jeff Corwin caught a massive 14-foot-by-8-foot beast recently in Thailand.
The stingray weighed as much as 800 pounds and was caught on rod and reel, according to Corwin, host of Ocean Mysteries.
The catch may set a new world’s record for the largest freshwater fish ever caught. The current record holder is a Mekong giant catfish, according to Guinness World Records.
“It was an incredible moment of adventure and science,” Corwin told USA TODAY Network. “Multiple people were on the rod and reel trying to pull this monster in,” he said, adding that it took two hours to secure the fish.
The stingray, which was pregnant, was released after capture.
Corwin was on location filming an upcoming episode of Ocean Mysteries along with Nantarika Chansue, an expert on stingrays who has been studying them in the region.
An embedded microchip in the stingray revealed that Chansue had caught the same animal six years prior, according to Corwin.
(Top: Image of giant stingray caught by Jeff Corwin March 6, 2015, in Thailand.)
The Cotton Boll Conspiracy 
HUGE.
Yeah, that’s one to tell your grandkids about.
This was right up my alley, since I love nature and freeing the pregnant stingray, after studying it, made me happy. Thanks so much for the fun moments!
It is nice when someone catches something that big and unusual and has the mind to let it go, rather than kill it.
I’m still bemused why they were trying to catch it in the first place.
As near as I can figure, they were trying to catch them for a television show and ended up with this whopper. The fact that they had a researcher in stingrays along would indicate that their goal was catching stingrays and I don’t suppose a conservationist such as Corwin is going to kill it, no matter if its big or small.
Very impressive my good sir. Very impressive.
Thank you, my good lady. I appreciate your kind words.