# Weird sight at the point yesterday...



## lil red jeep (Aug 17, 2007)

While at the point yesterday (getting skunked) I saw several times, probably 200 or 300 yards out in the water, what appeared to be a ray jump out of the water? Is this just my eyes playing a trick on me? The guy fishing beside me even asked if I saw something large out there jump and I told him I did and what I thought it was. He said he didn't think it was a ray, and then almost as if on cue, it jumped out of the water again and I could swear it had wings flapping as it fell back into the water. It breeched the water by a good 4 feet or so. Just wondering if anyone else has seen this happen. Really, I wasn't smokin nuthin!


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## dudeondacouch (Apr 6, 2010)

Manta Rays jump.

Eagle Rays also. A woman got killed in a boat in FL when one jumped and hit her in the face.


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## sunburntspike (Oct 4, 2010)

most likely a manta,jump like crazy when you snag 'em also


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

sunburntspike said:


> most likely a manta,jump like crazy when you snag 'em also


 Been seeing a bunch of them jump to clear paracites off around Avon,I'm sure that's what it was..


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## lil red jeep (Aug 17, 2007)

Thanks for the reply's. I was beginning to wonder if I just didn't remember smokin something!


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## AL_N_VB (Apr 3, 2002)

I see em jump @ Little Creek an Grandview too...


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## Lynn P. (Sep 7, 2007)

Seen it many times and is always a show...they will often jump four, five or more times. I don'tl know how in the hell they can clear the water with the mass they have and do it several times in a row.


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## HStew (Jan 8, 2009)

That sounds like the fearsome Devil Ray.


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## tjbjornsen (Oct 31, 2009)

Seen it a lot... I was always told that is how they clear their eggs for hatching, but being in the same family as sharks I was also under the impression that they bore live young.
So I obviously have something wrong here (no surprise there!) but I can vouch for the high wire act they will often perform out in the surf!
Being too lazy at the moment for the clicks it would take me to get to Wikipedia, I am betting on the parasite theory.


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## surfchunker (Apr 10, 2006)

If I'm right Skates lay eggs and ray's have live and from what I've heard it is a mating/spawning thing but not sure which ... one year we where there it was like that all week ....


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## surfchunker (Apr 10, 2006)

just read something that said they are jump away from sharks alot of times ... ? maybe


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## 1SHOT1KILL (Jul 31, 2010)

I've seen Manta's jump many times off the point.


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## dirtyhandslopez (Nov 17, 2006)

Remember the Ozzie that got nailed by one a few years ago?


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## chriscustom (Jun 17, 2006)

They do that when their mating also.


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## Smally (Jan 16, 2009)

chriscustom said:


> They do that when their mating also.


As do I. Jumping like that really helps knock off the parasites


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## pogeymoe (May 5, 2009)

What you saw was a manta ray. The jumping you see, like smally said, is a mating ritual. Also, skates give birth to live young while rays do not. I see alot of people refer to large skates on the outer banks as big ole rays. Most rays are small. skates get huge. as a kid when it was too hot for kings, we would put a dead blue on the bottom off of the pier near the bait cleanning tables. in minutes we would hook those big skates. some were hoisted to the pier deck to be cut into 3rds for shark bait. they would commonly give birth to 2-4 young.


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## solid7 (Dec 31, 2010)

dirtyhandslopez said:


> Remember the Ozzie that got nailed by one a few years ago?


It wasn't a manta... (was a large stingray)

I agree with the idea that it was mantas jumping in the surf. They are quite majestic when they do their flying routine. I always make it a point to cast where I last see them. Cobia and flounder never seem to be far behind.


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## snedfish (Dec 15, 2005)

It is probably a Butterfly Ray. When Kyaking out baits they will jump over your yak.


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## spydermn (Apr 26, 2009)

http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/shark_profiles/skate_or_ray.htm


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## Hop (Jun 29, 2009)

I'll like to see this.


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## dena (Jun 20, 2010)

Good video, there must have been a herd of them around there!


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## drumrun (Dec 5, 2007)

pogeymoe said:


> What you saw was a manta ray. The jumping you see, like smally said, is a mating ritual. Also, skates give birth to live young while rays do not. I see alot of people refer to large skates on the outer banks as big ole rays. Most rays are small. skates get huge. as a kid when it was too hot for kings, we would put a dead blue on the bottom off of the pier near the bait cleanning tables. in minutes we would hook those big skates. some were hoisted to the pier deck to be cut into 3rds for shark bait. they would commonly give birth to 2-4 young.


So skates get bigger then rays?? Odd never have never seen that to be true.


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## trackerz (Jul 21, 2009)

The major difference between rays and skates is in their reproductive strategies. Rays are live bearing (viviparous) while skates are egg laying (oviparous), releasing their eggs in hard rectangular cases sometimes called "mermaid´s purses". Also, skates typically have a prominent dorsal fin while the dorsal fin is absent or greatly reduced in rays. 

Most rays are kite-shaped with whip-like tails possessing one or two stinging spines while skates have fleshier tails and lack spines. Rays protect themselves with these stinging spines or barbs while skates rely on thorny projections on their backs and tails to for protection from predators. Skates have small teeth while rays have plate-like teeth adapted for crushing prey. Another difference is that rays are generally much larger than skates.


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## Maryland Tom (Nov 28, 2009)

Over the past 10 days i saw spinner sharks jumping around the point... could have seen that.


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