Tons of Sharks in the Shrewsbury River???

[ColdFoot]

Originally Posted by Skolmann

Cow Nose Rays. You mistook the tips of their wings for the dorsal fin(s) of a shark.

He's 100% right, they are cownose rays we were catching them in the river in highlands last week. They are eating spot and croakers and their barb is poisonous so be careful!

[Dino]

sounds like cow nosed rays

[No Keepers]

Definitely rays. I was heading out on Sunday and when we went under the Branchport Creek Bridge my youngest said dolphins. I got a quick look at it and said thats no dolphin. We turned around to get another look and it was gone. However, some guy crabbing on top of the bridge said did you see that sting ray. Grew up on that creek all of my life and never seen rays before.

[jmurr711]

Originally Posted by rumster

Over 4,000 posts of which the majority make little sense. Sorry

I agree wholeheartedly!

[Arbutis]

Isn't the barb of a Cow Nose Ray what killed the Crocodile Hunter - Steve Irwin? maybe just rumors.

Anyway - - - to repeat a previous question, Has anyone tried eating one of these things? It seemed quite beefy and muscular - I'm sure it's similar to shark in that it is mostly a cartilaginous skeleton. Some people say skate wings taste like scallops (crazy people that is). But who knows - maybe these invaders of the river have a tasty side to them which will make their invasion not SO bad.

[jmurr711]

Originally Posted by Arbutis

Isn't the barb of a Cow Nose Ray what killed the Crocodile Hunter - Steve Irwin? maybe just rumors.

Anyway - - - to repeat a previous question, Has anyone tried eating one of these things? It seemed quite beefy and muscular - I'm sure it's similar to shark in that it is mostly a cartilaginous skeleton. Some people say skate wings taste like scallops (crazy people that is). But who knows - maybe these invaders of the river have a tasty side to them which will make their invasion not SO bad.

yep you can eat them, and skate is sold at some of the most expensive restaurants in manhattan
http://www.buffalostoryproject.com/2...ys-for-dinner/
& it was a ray that killd the croc hunter but cownoses are normally very docille

[Bass_Appeal]

i was in the raritan 4th of july week by my self , heading to 11a off my port bow i seen fins also , thought it could be , but looked back in the wake and it was wide and short couldnt of been a shark , started thinking and remember what people said those rays looked like....

[torchee]

I caught a huge black ray - not cownose

last week off the beech from sandy hook

It had a long whiplike tail and must have been 75+ pounds

[gamblerkeith]

Originally Posted by torchee

I caught a huge black ray - not cownose

last week off the beech from sandy hook

It had a long whiplike tail and must have been 75+ pounds

It was a whip tail ray watch out for the barbs on those things

[Arbutis]

Just downloaded the photo - Take a look at the area I circled in RED. Tell me that doesn't look exactly like a shark fin! It was SO WEIRD! Sometimes there would be just one wing sticking up and just gliding along - sometimes they would hold both wing tips up and cruise the surface. Looked like a pair of sharks swimming side by side. Never saw that before - I always pictured the rays being more of a bottom dweller due to their anatomy.



I'll tell you one thing for certain - after seeing this photo my 10 year old daughter will NEVER swim, tube, water ski or jump into these waters again as long as she lives! Can you even imagine a little kid swimming in the river and looking over to see what looks like a pretty decent sized SHARK swimming nearby???? Holy crow - that would cure me too of ever swimming there. So I just tried telling her it wasn't a shark - it was a cownose ray. To which she replied, "Isn't that what KILLED the Crocodile Guy?" Great.