Sea Monster

We (Motivated Mom, Queen B, and myself) were doing the beach thing yesterday.

We headed to the surf fishing beach where I do my imitation of a fisherman who knows what he's doing while those with me catch up on the sunning and reading. Truth be told, I get in a fair amount of reading too. Even with hopeful anglers lined up along the beach for as far as one can see, it is rare to see more than the occasional bluefish or skate being pulled in.

Yesterday though, the guy next to me hooked a real monster. With his fishing pole bending nearly to the breaking point, my neighbor struggled with his catch for nearly fifteen minutes. The first glimpse of what was on his line came when a wide, flat head appeared in the foam of a breaking wave. It was obvious there was a real monster on the end of the fisherman's line.

Nearly two dozen onlookers had gathered by the time the catch was hauled into view; a manta ray with a "wing" span easily four feet from tip to tip. The monster flapped angrily at the edge of the surf. I could imagine the thing becoming airborne like a kite and spitting curses at the gathered crowd.

Once the hook was successfully removed, the ray quickly headed back to open water - and Motivated Mom vowed never to go into the ocean again.