Motorboat No Match for Manta Ray in Tug of War

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — Two Florida boaters met a real sea monster when their craft was dragged for hours by a powerful creature that turned out to be a giant manta ray, the Coast Guard said Wednesday.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Scott Barnes said the agency received a radio distress call from a 16-foot boat that reported it was being dragged by its anchor line by something unknown.

The Coast Guard sent a rescue boat to investigate and it found the motorboat being dragged in circles by something beneath the surface.

The crew transferred the anchor line to the Coast Guard vessel, freeing the men in the motorboat, who had tried to use their 90-horsepower engine to go in reverse and stop themselves from being dragged out to sea.

After the Coast Guard’s 41-foot boat pulled on the anchor line for several minutes, a giant manta ray, measuring an estimated 18 feet in width, came to the surface.

The Coast Guard continued to try to pull the rope free, but the giant wing-shaped creature eventually freed itself and swam away, Barnes said.

He said the manta ray could have pulled the boat to the bottom if the water had been deep enough for it to do so. While manta rays have been known to weigh up to 3,000 pounds, the shark-related fish are usually far smaller.

“If there were just a ledge and he decided to head down, that boat could have been gone,” Barnes said. “Overall, the manta ray pulled the 16-foot vessel for almost two hours and towed it approximately 1 1/2 miles offshore.”