Animal had fishing lines wrapped around its body
In May 2015, dive instructor Paul Slater was on a group dive near Cocos
Island, 550km off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica when a giant manta
ray happened to swim by.
Being a marine sanctuary, it was not unusual to see giant rays in the
water. However, this ray had several fishing lines wrapped around its
body. The lines had been there for some time, for some of them had cut
deep into its flesh.
Seeing this, Slater swam over to the ray from behind and cut away one
of the lines. Perhaps startled, the ray swam away, but the divers were
not deterred, determined to help it. Soon, the ray slowed down, and the
divers swiftly cut away the rest of the ropes.
Eventually, the ray was free from the ropes. It swam around the divers
performing barrel rolls in gratitude before swimming away into the
Pacific Ocean.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrPTgzYm9P0
Mares
3rd September 2015
