Absurd
Creature of the Week: The Half-Ton Giant Freshwater Stingray With a 15-Inch
Poison Barb
By Matt
Simon
Sailor lore once told of a whale so enormous that
captains would mistake it for an island, anchoring their ships to the beast and
ordering men ashore. When the sailors built a fire on this “island whale,”
though, the fiend would heave up and dive, dragging the crew to their deaths
and perhaps into starring roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. And on
the way down they likely thought, I knew I saw an eyeball back there. I should
have said something. But also, Well isn’t this just a doozy. Something so big,
yet we didn’t realize it was right under our feet.Scientists were probably
thinking the same thing when in 1990 they first described Southeast Asia’s
giant freshwater stingray, which can grow to more than 16 feet long and 1,300
pounds. And while it packs a 15-inch, poisonous, serrated stinger, it’s
actually a gentle, inquisitive creature, an endangered titan that researchers
are scrambling to understand before humans drive it to extinction. Read rest
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