WATCH: Commercial boat crew caught manta ray near Panama City Beach
A dolphin tour team captured the moment crews on a commercial boat near Panama City Beach caught a manta ray on Saturday.
The video shows the crew pulling the animal up onto the boat from a net.
News 13 reached out to Florida Fish and Wildlife on Sunday about the incident, and they were able to confirm that the vessel did have a special permit for manta ray research, but did not have information on who the permit was filed by.
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Water Planet CEO Denis Richard was onboard the nearby boat when the whole thing went down. He says pulling an animal out of its natural habitat is not the only way to do research.
'You don't need to capture an animal and put it in a tank on display to educate the public. You can do it in the wild, and we do it in the wild, in the field. There are way less invasive techniques nowadays. There's drone technology. There is, you know, with whales and dolphins, they can extend the pole and collect the breath of the animal. That's an example,' Richard said.
We reached out to the Office of Marine Fisheries Management, which is in charge of permits, but their office was closed on Sunday.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information as it becomes available.
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