First film of 'giant' stingray

'Giant' stingray on camera for first time

A camera crew has recorded the first ever moving pictures of a giant stingray species.

The smalleye stingray was seen swimming off the coast of Mozambique, in Africa, by a team filming for the BBC.

Smalleye stingrays are related to sharks, and can grow to more than 2m wide, making them the biggest of all 70 species of stingray.

They were first discovered in 1908, and have only ever been seen alive off the coast of Tofo in southern Mozambique.

Quiz: Fish

Rays live in lots of different environments, and some species can be as small as just 24cm wide.

The film was shot as part of the programme Andrea: Queen of the Mantas for the BBC series Natural World, which will be shown on BBC Two at 8pm on Wednesday 11 November.