Our Long Island Sound Trawl Survey crew never knows what they might see on a given day out on the Sound – yesterday was a stand-out example. First, the crew trawled up a HUGE roughtail stingray (Bathytosia centroura): over 6 ft. long, 5 ft. wide, and an estimated 400 pounds! These gentle giants are found along the Atlantic coast from New England to Florida but are relatively rare in Long Island Sound. Like all stingrays, roughtails have a venomous spine in their tail – but no...t to worry – they are not aggressive, and don’t frequent shallow nearshore waters where people wade and swim. Note that the picture shows the ray laying on its back, with its light-colored “ventral side” (aka – belly) facing up. Rather than attempt to roll the animal over, our crew quickly took some measurements and immediately returned the ray to the water to watch it swim away alive and well.