The True Story Of The 5,000 Pound Manta Ray Caught In New Jersey And The Confusion That Followed

It's now lost to history exactly when A.L. Kahn and his crew came to realize whatever was caught in the anchor line was a manta ray, but what is known is the fish pulled the boat for some five miles over the course of three hours. All the while, those onboard grew concerned they might

It's now lost to history exactly when A.L. Kahn and his crew came to realize whatever was caught in the anchor line was a manta ray, but what is known is the fish pulled the boat for some five miles over the course of three hours. All the while, those onboard grew concerned they might capsize, according to Sea Paradise. At some point, the Coast Guard came to the rescue, and with their help, Kahn and others on the vessel wrestled the leviathan close enough to the surface to shoot and kill it. It reportedly took 22 bullets fired from a high-powered rifle to bring it down, as Forgotten History explains.

Once back on land, the manta ray is said to have been measured and weighed — it was supposedly more than 20 feet wide and could have weighed as much as 6,000 pounds. But is that even possible? According to Oceana.org, it very well may have been. Manta rays are known to reach sizes that large and to be as heavy as Kahn's catch. No specific records remain of the 1933 mega-ray caught off the coast of New Jersey, though, beyond media coverage from the time period. In 2022, a giant manta ray was captured in a blurry photograph near a surfer off of Rambler Road beach on the Jersey shoreline, as the PhillyVoice reports. With that in mind, it's plausible that Kahn's manta was real — but what about that famous photograph?

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB9kG1tbmhkZMGpsYytqa6dXajBsL7YZqafZaSdsm6Bj2lnZqifqrulecyapa2ZXaeuunnCmqygoKRitq95zZ6uZqKVp8CmxYyapZ1lpJ2ybq%2FOp52uq5mku27Ax5qrZp6fobmww8SdZg%3D%3D

 Share!