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In 1933, a New York silk manufacturer named A.L. Kahn was vacationing in Florida when his anchor line accidentally snared a giant manta ray. After hours of struggle, a visit from the coast guard, and a few dozen blasts from a gun, Kahn managed to bring the enormous devil fish ashore. A photograph purportedly showing the results of this legendary fishing story can be viewed below: Captain Kahn truly did catch a massive manta ray off the New Jersey coast in 1933. This image, however, shows a taxidermy version of the devil fish. Kahn's fishing tale was reported by several contemporary newspapers, including a fascinating account published in the 10 December 1933 issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Sunday Magazine: The newspaper also published a photograph of Kahn's boat, the Miss Pensacola II, which was ill-suited for the unenviable task of hauling up a giant manta ray from the ocean's depths: As news of Kahn's catch started to spread, crowds began lining up to get a glimpse of the enormous creature. Kahn charged 10 cents per head to view the manta ray and raised enough money in the first few days to buy the local fire department a new $3,000 fire truck. The devil fish was then sent to a taxidermist so that it could be preserved for exhibition at various events: The viral photograph displayed above shows the mounted manta ray, and a second image of Kahn with his taxidermied catch published in the Honolulu Advertiser Journal noted it as such: We're a little skeptical about the reported size of this manta ray (20 feet wide and more than 5,000 pounds), but those numbers are within the realm of possibility. The Florida Museum reports that the manta ray has an average width of about 22 feet, and although these specimens typically max out at around 3,000 pounds, at least one other report references a 5,000-pound devil fish being pulled from the sea:
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