Researchers have confirmed and documented the presence of a sickle-fin devil ray off the U.S. East Coast for the first time. And have expanded the known range of the giant fish to include the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.
The sicklefin devil ray is an endangered species. It can grow up to 12 feet wide and dive to depths of 6,000 feet. Ad they are thought to only reproduce one offspring every few years.
Despite being found in pockets of the sea, around the world, their presence had never been officially confirmed in proximity to the United States.
Previously the lack of official records on the rare sea creature made it difficult to track. And over decades it was only seen occasionally.
Researchers from the Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF), a nonprofit based in Florida, collected sightings from various sources. This includes scuba divers, aerial surveyors, and social media platforms.
After analyzing the data, they were able to identify “180 sightings and 361 individual sicklefin devil rays gathered between 1996 and 2022 in the waters off the US east coast and the Gulf of Mexico.”
