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Yesterday I heard that a giant manta ray was washed up on Rarawa and today @clinton was coming up to see it and do an autopsy. We met on Rarawa and @indeynz was also there.

This is also the first recorded wash up of the Oceanic Manta Ray in NZ. All other records have been live sightings.

This female was about 4m across from wing tip to wing tip - the photo with the bucket one side and the spade the other side marks the ends of the wings.

The next three photos show the eye, the gills and the teeth on the bottom jaw, which are followed by some of the internal organs, and the good news is that plastic was not found inside!

The next part to be autopsied was the spine and finally the tail was removed.