TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. (WFLA) - A group of divers came across a massive surprise at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend.
The group was out for a day trip on Sunday when they spotted a massive stingray on the floor of the Gulf.
One of the divers, Howard Cohn, was recording the dive and captured the huge sea creature on video. The true size of the ray is revealed when another diver, Shawn Campbell, swims by and puts it in perspective.
Campbell says they're estimating the stingray was about 11 feet long. He told us he's never seen a ray that big in this area.
"So, what I decided to do was swim parallel to the stingray and give you an idea of how big the ray was. So, I'm about six foot and two foot, fins on, so I am eight foot in that video, and I am dwarfed by that ray," Campbell told News Channel 8 on Thursday.
The divers were about 8 miles off the coast of Tarpon Springs when they encountered the stingray. The dive was part of a trip with Narcosis Scuba Center in Tarpon Springs. The center runs charter boats out of its dive shop, taking people to explore the Gulf.
"This is right here, this isn't some other country or somewhere else. This is right off of Tampa Bay."
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