Diver awestruck after meeting 'Brad Pitt of the ocean' off Australian coast
Joshua Whitney dives Kirra Reef on the Gold Coast most weekends and has swam alongside turtles, bull rays and even hammerhead sharks, but told Yahoo News it was like meeting Brad Pitt when he happened upon a shark ray — an exceptionally rare creature as the species is facing extinction worldwide.
"I just saw this massive shadow sitting on the bottom of the sea, and I went down to have a look at it.
"When it started swimming again, I wasn't 100 per cent sure what I was looking at," he told Yahoo.
The free diver was with the shark ray for several minutes, but "it could hold its breath a bit longer," he joked, so he soon resurfaced. Joshua knew it was "special" but didn't know exactly what it was, so naturally, he turned to Google. After describing the distinct features of the creature, he realised he's enjoyed an encounter with a shark ray.
"I felt kind of starstruck. It was kind of like if you meet someone famous, but you don't realise they're famous until afterwards, and then you're like, oh s**t, that was Brad Pitt.
"I met the Brad Pitt of the ocean."
While it was a euphoric moment, Joshua said it's likely he'll never see one again in the wild.
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The shark ray has a distinctive shape with large thorns on the bony ridges of its head and a wide snout similar to that of a ray. However its tail and dorsal fins are similar to a shark's.
"The whole rear end of it looked exactly like a shark, but the front of it is like a stingray," Joshua recalled to Yahoo.
The animal is classified as a ray because of its gill placement and other small features, such as the spiracles on its head, which are characteristics of a ray.
Shark rays face extinction as they primarily live on or near the seafloor and often get scooped up during trawl fishing, which is when large nets are swept across the ocean floor and catch everything there, according to the Australian Marine Conservation Society. The species are also targeted for their fins, which will be sliced off before they are thrown back into the water alive — an act criminalised in Australia.
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