What was predator robbing angler’s crab traps off Australia? Video shows odd glimpses

An Australian fisherman’s bad day at sea took an odd turn when he learned via camera footage that his catch was being devoured on the seafloor by a “bloody big” creature with eyes like a cat.

Professional angler Sammy Hitzke shared the “full-on attack” video on Facebook and YouTube, calling it “weird and wonderful.”

It also provided much-needed clarity as to why his crab traps kept coming up largely empty — or with just the “munched” crab parts. The trap’s mesh was also damaged.

Something was eating them in the trap, and the video initially showed only ominous bits and pieces of the predator: Large fins, a long tail and eyes with pupils like a cat.

A face was eventually seen, and it appeared to be vacuuming up the crabs with its mouth. It even closed in on the camera, as if considering whether to eat it, too.

Sharks are notorious for chewing up angler’s catches off the coast of Australia, but this definitely wasn’t a shark.

“I think the general consensus was that it was an eagle ray,” Hitzke wrote on YouTube. “Bloody thing owes me some crabs.”

Spotted eagle rays grow to lengths of over 16 feet, including their tail, and the wingspan can be as much as nearly 10 feet, according to Oceana. Adults can weigh more than 500 pounds, experts say.

Hitzke’s video had been viewed more than 220,000 times on YouTube and Facebook, and gotten more than 400 comments, including some referring to rays as “unreal alien like creatures.”

“They can grow to be proper giants,” one commenter wrote.

“We need a following vid on this, taking revenge and catching the ray!” another posted.

Hitzke’s trip eventually paid off, with traps bringing up 13 crabs that “were keepers.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 7:03 AM with the headline "What was predator robbing angler’s crab traps off Australia? Video shows odd glimpses."