A family on a fishing trip off the coast of Alabama witnessed a rare 400-pound spotted eagle ray leap onto their boat and give birth to four pups.
April Jones, 34, her husband, father-in-law, and son were participating in the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo Saturday, but the mom-of-one was not having much luck catching anything.
‘We were trying to get a fish for me to catch. So I told them I was ready to leave and head to a different spot,’ Jones told Fox.
‘We packed everything up, and as we were pulling away, there was a hard hit and a water splash.’
The giant ray was flopping around on the back of the boat. Jones said she thinks the sea creature was jumping due to a remora, or suckerfish, being stuck to her belly.
‘This thing was beautiful but 400+ lbs jumping in a boat and hitting you doesn’t feel good (er trip for me) and absolutely scary,’ April wrote about the experience in a Facebook post.
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April Jones, 34, did not expect her fishing day off the waters of the Sand Island Lighthouse, near Dauphin, to end up with a trip to the hospital and the sea lab
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The gorgeous animal gave birth to four pups. Sadly, the babies did not survive as they were born under stressful conditions, the sea lab told the Jones
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Jones, her husband, father-in-law, and son were participating in the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo Saturday, but the mom-of-one was not having much luck catching anything
Eagle stingray jumps into family’s boat during fishing tournament
Jeremy Jones told local news station WSPA that he heard his wife screaming but did not immediately realize what was going on.
‘I hear stuff breaking and flopping, [grandpa] falls into me. I look back, this ray is laying in the back of the boat,’ he said.
The Jones’ made calls and tried to figure out what to do. Meanwhile, the ray was weighing down the boat and water was coming inside the back of the boat.
Their attempts to get the 400-pound animal out of the boat were fruitless so they decided to get back to the shore and get some help to keep her alive.
The situation quickly turned mesmerizing as the mama ray birthed four adorable pups. Sadly, the babies did not survive as they were born under stressful conditions, the sea lab told the Jones.
The Dauphin Island Sea Lab told the Jones that if eagle rays are in any type of stressful situation, they will give birth.
‘It’s not uncommon for wild animals to release their young when they feel their life is in danger, curator of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab Brian Jones told Fox.
‘This is surely an adaptation that gives the parents a better chance at producing offspring and passing along their genes in the population.’
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The babies were donated to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab for educational purposes
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By the time they had help from staff at the sea lab, the ray had already delivered four tiny pups who did not survive the stressful conditions of their birth
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The family of three had an eventful day out off the coast of Alabama when a giant eagle ray decided to join them
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The Dauphin Island Sea Lab plans to show the baby rays show kids how rare it is to see the animal
‘[We] just wanted to make sure she was kept alive, so we were dumping water on her and it was about a 15- or 20-minute boat ride back to shore,’ April Jones told Fox.
The family drove to the closest boat lunch, where the lab was.
But by the time they had help from staff, the ray had already delivered four tiny pups who unfortunately did not survive the stressful conditions of their birth.
‘We had no idea when she did it. They were not moving,’ April Jones told Fox.
The babies were donated to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab for educational purposes.
‘They said they would use them to show kids and tell the story about [the] mom, and how rare it was to see an eagle ray,’ she added.
Eagle rays are not an endangered species but are near threatened.
‘Eagle rays, unlike stingrays, tend to live in the open ocean rather than on the bottom of the sea,’ according to Scuba.com.
‘Compared with other rays, their tails are quite long and they are a well-defined rhomboidal shape featuring distinct wings. The spotted eagle ray is one of the most beautiful rays and is also known as the bonnet ray’
On Facebook, Jones said that it took multiple men to get her out and that they estimated the ray was over 7ft when fully flat.
April said that the family was devastated the adorable pups could not survive, and that they had done everything possible to keep all the animals safe.
‘It was sad when the babies were found but there was nothing we could have done as we didn’t know she was a mama and couldn’t move her,’ she wrote.
‘We are at least thankful she survived.’
The very interesting experience left Jones with a sprained shoulder and a sore collarbone.
‘When we got it out of the boat, I wasn’t as scared. It was kind of cool,’ her eight-year-old son, Gunner told WSPA.
As for their boat, the shade cover was broken during the ordeal, and the power poles aren’t working. Jones, however, said the unique experience was worth it.
‘Expect the unexpected. You will probably only have something like this happen once in your lifetime,’ she told WSAP.