A true predator that is adept at ambushing passing prey smothering it with their wings then shuffling over the capture to position it in the mouth.

This ray can tolerate almost estuarine conditions and indeed, is often found in sea areas adjacent to estuary environments where freshwater is lightly mixed with saltwater, an example being Fenit harbour inside Tralee Bay, Kerry and the Hampshire coast. Even the dull-looking painted ray’s tiny spines can draw blood if the fish is handled roughly. Grip either side of the nose with a cloth or around the tail, but not with bare hands. A: You will need a rod, reel, line, hooks, weights, and a rig for sea fishing for ray species. It is also recommended to have a landing net and glove to safely handle the ray when catching it. Our boat is bright red, emblazoned with stylised manta rays, and belongs to Mark Erdmann, a 50-something marine biologist from Conservation International with an American drawl and a single crystal earring. The animal we’re looking for is as wide as the boat is long—6.3 metres—and is part of the pantheon of New Zealand marine megafauna, along with whales and dolphins and great white sharks. But few people know that oceanic manta rays are even here. Mark Erdmann leads a team of researchers investigating the ecology of New Zealand’s manta and devil rays; he prepares to tag a devil ray.By late afternoon, the horizon is a hard line between the cobalt sea and the pale sky. It becomes hypnotic—the motor, the sloshing ocean, the fairy prions and shearwaters dipping and fluttering, the tiny storm petrels bouncing off the waves with legs askew. Abait stop is also advised if a single hook is used. It prevents the bait blowing up the snood away from the hook during the cast.

Don’t use too much force when landing a ray. Circle hooks can reduce hooking injuries. Also, don’t disturb pregnant or egg-laying rays. The odd ray will be caught to slow (less than 0.5 knots) drift fished baits and in some cases, a slow drift will catch more ray than fishing at anchor as you cover more ground. If it is a particularly calm day with little wind or tide to move the kayak it often pays to slowly drift over an area to find the rays before anchoring. As most good ray marks are usually in areas of tidal flow it is usually best to be anchored from the off. Baits for catching raysEvery sighting and every satellite tag adds to what we know about Aotearoa’s manta rays. Their DOC conservation status is “data deficient”, because we still know so little about them, but according to Erdmann, our manta ray population is probably in good shape. “This might be one of the few oceanic manta populations in the world which isn’t getting hammered, so that makes it even more important for us to have a close look at it.” Measures must be taken after identifying dangerous substances or conditions. Educating employees on safety protocols and PPE usage is also vital. Identifying workplace hazards helps prevent accidents, injuries, and fines. Common human errors can still cause accidents. So, continuous education on safety is better than introducing more rules.

The embryo takes from 16 to 20 weeks to hatch. Newly hatched fish are about 3¼ ins in width and as juveniles feed on small shrimps and amphipods.

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Very rarely caught, but nevertheless there is a British rod-caught record of 90lb 1oz for the species caught off Dodman Point in Cornwall. The Irish Specimen Fish Committee, a superb organisation that sets the specimen weights for Irish angling removed the undulate for some time from its specimen awards list but has since reinstated this ray on a measured length only scale allowing specimens to be claimed but the ray returned alive immediately after capture. Offshore undulate rays respond to tides much like they do when inshore. They will be more active on the bigger spring tides, and travel more to feed within their chosen locality, especially the tides climbing up to the biggest tides of that series. Once the tides start to diminish, then so to, does their activity level. Not long after this, I had a second small eyed ray at 9.5lb, a few more dogs in between and then a lovely third small eyed at 9.2lbs. It was an hour after the high water and I thought I would give it half an hour more as dark was approaching, when I again hooked up to another small eyed ray! h2>