Denis Richard watched five men heave a giant manta ray from the waters off Panama City Beach and plop it into a pool on their boat deck. “Let him go,” he yelled. “You ought to be ashamed of yourselves ...

ORLANDO, Fla. — Two years before its controversial videotaped capture of a giant manta ray last month, a Florida company seized two more of the rare creatures for SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, one of which died ...

Animal rights activists were outraged last summer when a video of a fishing boat off the Florida Panhandle hauling an ...

Some USF faculty and students are divided on whether the protection act is a scientific necessity or simply an emotional ...

Florida’s wildlife agency has temporarily suspended licenses that allow aquariums to capture threatened sharks and rays as it weighs permanent changes to its rules, according to a letter made public ...

State Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Miami Republican, and Rep. Lindsay Cross, a St. Petersburg Democrat, have both filed measures that would ban the capture and transport of endangered or threatened marine ...

A bipartisan group of state and federal lawmakers is seeking sweeping new protections for threatened marine life following a viral video that showed a Florida company capturing a giant manta ray for ...

A giant manta ray was captured off Panama City Beach, sparking public outrage and national attention. The capture was permitted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for an aquarium ...