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Manta Ray Appears On San Francisco Sidewalk

A personal story in the experience: I Love Weird Facts
S o, I'm walking back to work from lunch, and on the sidewalk of a very busy street in San Francisco (right at 4th and Market in the South of Market district) I see a huge Manta Ray on the sidewalk!

I was one of the first people at the site and a few police officers had just arrived on the scene. Everyone was just staring at the giant Manta Ray wondering how it ever got there.

The guy who called the police said that it actually flapped its way over to that part of the sidewalk from about 20 feet away, so it must have been alive when it was dropped there!

I wonder if this is some kind of protest against a company around there. Certainly got some attention as by the time I left there were 4 police cars and dozens of people gathered around it looking.  Anyone have any ideas?

Oh and to add some morbid humor to this bizarre turn of events, one of the officers on the scene poured a half-empty water bottle on the poor creature... Maybe in hopes of magically reviving it...

I'm pasting the pictures I took below:

Your guess is as good as mine, but it was tragic to see a still-living animal surrounded by people who had no idea how to help it stave off a nearly imminent death. RIP little guy.


Spiking my curiosity, here's some information on Manta Rays: They are the largest of the marine Ray family, and can grow to be 25 feet across. They are filter feeders, and are extremely fond of humans-- often swimming alongside divers and surfacing near ships that have their engines off. They have the largest brain-to-body ratio of any shark or ray. They are hunted by sharks and rarely, orcas. They also like to breach the water-- but that's definitely not what happened here unless it could jump about half a mile (and land intact). Manta Rays did NOT kill Steve Irwin, the television personality-- sting rays did (a close cousin, with a barbed tail).

Here's some videos of the eerily beautiful creature swimming in its element

This amazing clip shows hundreds of manta rays jumping (as part of their mating ritual)

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Posted Aug 14th, 2008 at 4:22PM
Is the ocean near by ? That is weird ! What company would it be in protest against ? Or maybe it was lost off a fisherman's truck on its way to market? Do people eat them?
     
Posted Aug 14th, 2008 at 4:49PM
There were some protests down the street for the SEIU or some other labor cause, and now the manta ray....what a weird day.
     
Posted Aug 14th, 2008 at 5:09PM
The cops are looking at it as if to say: DO we give him a loitering ticket??? rofl!
     
Posted Aug 14th, 2008 at 5:10PM
Where's his tail ? Poor thing ! I feel so sad for him.
     
Posted Aug 14th, 2008 at 5:26PM
i think i see a caption of the day picture....
     
Posted Aug 14th, 2008 at 7:38PM
Ahaha ! Please Keep us posted on this. It's sooooo sad to me.
     
Posted Aug 15th, 2008 at 3:40AM
Yes its very sad poor thing.
     
Posted Aug 15th, 2008 at 3:41AM
WTF? =I
     
Posted Aug 15th, 2008 at 3:46AM
Oh Hell.....It's coming!!!!Cthulhu Is drawing near! THE GREAT VILLAIN OF THE COSMOS WHO RESIDES IN THE MOTHER OCEAN IS RISING! SURELY THIS IS THE HOUR WHEN MAN SHALL FALL TO THEIR KNEES IN HORROR OF THE VILE CREATURES THAT WILL POUR FORTH FROM THE WATERS!!!!! REPENT!!!!!REPENT!!!!!REPENT!!!!!!!
+2 nods     
Posted Aug 16th, 2008 at 11:38PM
what. the eff?
poor ray :/
if it was some kind of practical joke,
its not funny at all. it aint cool to have killed the little fella.
thats seriously crazy tho.
ever find out what happened?
+2 nods     
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