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A rare 400-pound spotted eagle ray jumped into the boat of an Alabama family while they were fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.
April Jones, 34, along with her husband, father-in-law, and son were hoping to catch a large fish while competing in the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo over the weekend.
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","_id":"00000182-206e-d6d9-a5d7-247edddf0000","_type":"00000161-b425-d761-a563-f7e77e270000"}”>Fox 17 News at 10:00 p.m. (clip)The family was preparing to move to a new fishing spot when the spotted eagle ray jumped into their boat.
“I felt something hit me,” Jones told Fox News. “Then I see this big blob flopping around in the back of the boat.”
Jones said they thought it was a shark at first but then realized it was a ray.
293637276_10217049439426861_6989584501270104451_n.jpg”We thought she’d be able to get herself out of the boat, but due to her weight, she couldn’t get herself out,” Jones said.
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“We drove to the closest boat launch, which happened to be where the Dauphin Island Sea Lab was,” Jones added. “I ran into the lab to see if anyone could help get her out. In the meantime, some people had come to the boat and helped her get out.”
That’s when they discovered the ray had delivered four baby rays on board.
“What we learned from the lab about stingrays,” Jones explained, “is if they are in any type of stressful situation, they will give birth.”
“We don’t know how far along these babies were. We were told she jumped because a remora, or suckerfish, was likely stuck to her. And by flying out of the water — if it had landed in the water — the suckerfish would’ve fallen off.”
The spotted eagle ray pups did not survive, however.
294046065_10217049439826871_7756097285189857241_n.jpg“We donated them to the Sea Lab,” Jones said. “They said they would use them to show kids and tell the story about [the] mom — and how rare it was to see an eagle ray.”
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When the 400-pound spotted eagle ray jumped into the boat, it hit half of Jones’s body. She said she went to the emergency room and was told the ray had strained her shoulder.
