Incredible video shows injured manta ray seeking help from divers in Australia

By MiNDFOOD

Manta Ray
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Giant manta ray ‘begs snorkeler to help save her life in incredible encounter’.

An Australian underwater photographer has described how he rescued a manta ray in a rare encounter after the animal appeared to seek out his help.

Jake Wilton told NBC News that he knew he was witnessing something extraordinary when an almost 10-foot manta ray swam by him recently, and seemed to be trying to get his attention.

“It’s very rare for an animal to turn and come back over to you and present themselves,” Wilton, who is an experienced diver, said Friday. “So I knew as soon as she started to interact with us, it was something very special.”

Footage shows Freckles the ray approaching the group of divers Wilton was with, off the Ningaloo Coast in Western Australia, and showing them that it had fish hooks caught under its eye.

It seems to show the manta ray then staying perfectly still as Wilton gently removes the potentially deadly spikes.

The animal – well known to locals and affectionately nicknamed Freckles – then swims away with a flourish as the diver emerges triumphantly with the hooks.

“I knew we had to get the hook out of her eye or she would have been in big trouble.

“I went down for one last try and the manta stayed completely still in the water,” Wilton said.

Fellow swimmer Monty Halls, who was aboard the divers’ boat throughout, said Freckles must have known Wilton was trying to help.

Manta rays are believed to be some of the most intelligent creatures in the ocean. Unlike stingrays, they don’t have an external spike and are generally harmless to humans.

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