‘You could say I was catching rays while soaking up the rays!’

Killybegs fisherman Cormac Burke has spoken of his delight in catching his first ever stingray recently while on holiday in Tralee.

Cormac has been fishing all his life, both angling and commercially, but had never come across a stingray before. 

“Stingrays are not common,” Cormac tells DonegalLive. “The only place in Ireland where they live is in the waters off Tralee Bay.”

Cormac has been coming to Tralee for the last few years on holiday and he’s always been determined to catch a stingray while there. Recent high temperatures may have helped him strike it lucky this time, as he explained that they like warm waters and come closer to shore when the sand is hot.

“You could say I was catching rays while soaking up the rays!” he adds.

Cormac is a member of the Killybegs Mariners Sea Angling Club and is also the chairman of the Irish Fishing & Seafood Alliance.

His luck didn’t stop there as he caught another rare undulate ray a few days later, only his second ever. They have distinctive markings on their backs and like the stingray, they are only to be found in Tralee Bay.

Cormac with the undulate ray

“I always try to catch something different while I’m here,” Cormac says. “My best ever result was 23 different kinds of fish.”

Stingrays and undulate rays are classed as endangered and are protected species in Ireland. They must be immediately released back into the water after being caught.

READ NEXT: Rosses Community School students flying the flag for the Irish language

Marine Institute Ireland is involved in a programme tagging rays to monitor their numbers and help with conservation efforts.