Zeb Hogan National Geographic Stingrays – 02 06 2011
Another stingray fishing trip to the Maeklong River in Samut Songkran saw National Geographic explorer Zeb Hogan returning to Thailand to collect data concerning Giant freshwater stingray research.
On arrival at the Maeklong River Zeb Hogan boarded a boat and travelled to various parts of the Giant freshwater stingray research site in an effort to download data contained on receivers previously deployed in the river.
After visiting each site the National Geographic explorer then joined the Fishsiam team for an afternoon’s freshwater stingray fishing on the Maeklong River.
Coinciding the fishing trip with the incoming tide the anglers soon hooked a Giant freshwater stingray but unfortunately the freshwater stingray was lost shortly after due to a hook pull.
After resetting the baits the anglers did not have long to wait before hooking another Giant freshwater stingray which they battled for almost half an hour.
The Giant freshwater stingray clamped onto the bottom on several occasions during the fight causing the anglers to apply copious amounts of pressure from directly above the stingray.
After a protracted battle the Giant freshwater stingray was finally brought up into the upper layers of the river where it was expertly netted soon after.
The Giant freshwater stingray was carefully transported to the riverside where Dr.Zeb Hogan and the Chulalongkorn University research team thoroughly examined the stingray.
Various scientific studies were carried out on the stingray including DNA, tissue sampling, blood sampling and toxicology testing. In addition the scientists also collected semen samples for use in forthcoming research.
The Giant freshwater stingray was identified as being a male with a width of 1.2m’s and was observed to be in perfect condition. The Giant freshwater stingray was estimated to weigh 60kg’s.
The Giant freshwater stingray was released shortly after capture back into the Maeklong River.
