A group of fishermen in Peru working in the northwest of the country discovered a huge manta ray which local media said weighs just over a tonne.

People said that the ray swam into the fishermen¡¯s net as they trawled for fish in a homemade wooden boat.

The enormous, 8-metre creature was found in the La Crove cave in waters near the border with Ecuador. A fisherman said that it was so big, that it could not be loaded onto their boat and had to be transported by a tow truck.

In ancient Peru, the manta ray, which is in the same biological order as smaller stingrays, was often represented in art where they were feared because of their size. People believed that they ate fish and sank boats, and it was not until the late 1970¡¯s that perceptions began to change. This was when people realised that they were actually pretty placid and harmless to humans.

Difficult words: trawl (pull a trawl net – a large fishing net), enormous (very big), creature (an animal), tow truck (a truck for moving heavy things), perception (the way people think about something), placid (calm and peaceful).