PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — A video is blowing up on social media of a protected giant manta ray being taken from the waters off the Florida Panhandle and a South Florida-based company is behind the controversial catch.
Denis Richard took the video off Shell Island, about a mile offshore of Panama City Beach.
“I was horrified, and everybody on board was really upset,” Richard said.
Richard is the founder and CEO of Water Planet USA, a tour company that offers encounters with dolphins in the wild.
He was on his way back to the marina with a group when something strange caught his eye.
“We saw that white boat with five people on board,” Richard said. “There were two people working that rod, and they seemed to have a hell of a time getting the whatever they call it back to the boat.”
At first, Richard thought it was a shark, but was soon shocked to see what they had actually captured.
“We saw the wings of a manta ray and the manta ray was not hooked through the mouth,” he said. “So they must have snagged him.”
And everyone could see it was suffering, fighting for its life.
“I would be in distress if I had a hook tied under my arm and people were trying to haul me up on a boat,” Richard said. “I mean he was in pain. That animal was in pain.”
Once the manta ray was brought onto the boat, it was flipped into what Richard describes as a kiddie pool on the deck.
“Once they turned the animal over, they said, ‘Oh, good, that’s a female,’” he said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lists the giant manta ray as protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. They should not be targeted by fishermen and must be released in a manner that will promote their survival after any interaction.
But Richard said the fishermen told him they had a valid permit to harvest the animal.
He watched the boat speed off to the marina where this video reveals who the captors were: Dynasty Marine Associates, an operation out of Marathon that supplies Florida and Caribbean marine life to public aquariums and retail stores.
We checked with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which confirmed the legal permit under what is called a Marine Special Activity License:
“The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is aware of a video circulating on social media depicting the capture of a manta ray. The take of manta rays is prohibited in state waters. However, the capture of the ray shown in this video was permitted by a Marine Special Activity License that allowed for the take of one manta ray. The Marine Special Activity License Program issues licenses for activities requiring a marine fisheries regulation waiver. Activities that are licensed by this program include, but are not limited to, scientific research, education, exhibition, aquaculture, and more. ”
— Arielle Callender, FWC spokesperson
But Richard is pushing back.
“So they’re basically coming up here in Bay County to exploit our resources,” he said. “How on earth can the American public or citizen or people agree to such laws and such permits being issued? That’s a total outrage.”
Local 10 News confirmed that SeaWorld Abu Dhabi contracted Dynasty Marine to procure the giant manta ray.
It’s reportedly the second giant manta ray the company has caught for SeaWorld.
The species does not do well in captivity: They are pelagic animals and need the open ocean and very large areas to swim in order to survive.
Local 10 News contacted both SeaWorld and Dynasty Marine for comment and had not received responses as of the publication of this article.
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