FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. - In a video captured in November but recently circulating online, a surfer in Flagler Beach was pushed on his board by a manta ray while paddling through the water. Not much information is available about incident beyond the YouTube handle of the surfer who posted it. Background scenery in the video confirms that it's definitely Flagler Beach where the collision occurred.
The video begins with the surfer paddling out, filmed from his point of view. A few seconds in, a fin breaking the surface of the water can be seen in the near distance. That fin then begins moving closer. Soon, it's abundantly clear that a manta ray is headed straight for the surfer. He freezes, and it appears to knock into his board head-on.
After the gentle push, the surfer pauses to assess the situation. As he does, the ray comes back for another pass. The surfer reaches out his hand, and the ray flaps its wing as it goes by. The video ends after just those two encounters, with the manta ray having swam away back into the ocean. The encounter appeared to take place just a few dozens yards from shore. The identity of the surfer in the video isn't immediately clear from the video, which has amassed over 287,000 views on YouTube as of Thursday. His channel is called PlayHard.
Manta rays, unlike many other species of ray, do not have a venomous barb on their tail and thus cannot harm humans by stinging them. They are commonly encountered by divers, with some places offering tours to view and swim alongside the graceful giants. Both the oceanic manta ray and reef manta ray are listed as threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with the former species considered endangered and the latter vulnerable. Based on the known territorial ranges of each species, it's more likely the Flagler Beach surfer encountered an oceanic manta ray. This species can grow to be 30 feet long and 6,600 pounds, but are more commonly reported at around half that size.
