Bedok Jetty is a popular fishing spot for anglers.

However, it still takes some patience and luck to land a big catch.

Man vs Nature

On Nov. 2, a Facebook user, Gary Sim, uploaded a video of an epic showdown between an angler and an eagle ray.

The six-minute video showed how the tussle attracted a crowd of onlookers.

Highlights

If you find the video too long, here are the highlights of what happened.

At 0:30 mark

The angler was already using all his might to pull the ray up with his fishing rod.

https://giphy.com/gifs/7zGPRm57FoCdR5IdUu

At 0:46 mark

He had to press his foot against the railing for balance as the ray was struggling away from the jetty.

https://giphy.com/gifs/fBMykRHmMyufGcLTF1

At 2:30 mark

The angler walked to the other end of the jetty twice to extend the fishing line to pull the ray closer to him.

He did this at least twice and finally managed to pull the ray towards the jetty.

https://giphy.com/gifs/fwYXtGHl0t5xrCvRJC

At 3:00 mark

Onlookers were asking the angler, who was visibly tired, to take a break.

The hobbyists were amused by the angler's determination to catch the ray.

https://giphy.com/gifs/jxeCjXnIrJGEtB98qb

At 4:00 mark

The ray eventually gave in and was pulled closer to the jetty.

It was seen flapping its fins near the water surface and overturned in the midst of its struggle.

One of the onlookers managed to identify the ray as an eagle ray.

https://giphy.com/gifs/5Yl7icxX7b8qMP2Pvn

At 5:10 mark

Nearing the jetty, the eagle ray made its best attempt to swim away from its predator once more.

That made the hobbyists worry that the crowd of people might scare the ray away and asked some to stay away from the railing.

You can hear one of them saying repeatedly:

"Kua tio lang lah" (See people lah)

"Lang mai lai, lang mai lai" (People don't come, people don't come)

The ray's escape plan failed and was pulled back towards the jetty again.

https://giphy.com/gifs/det2yWNRKES3Gd6VXI

The angler tried hooking the ray's head area with another fishing gear.

https://giphy.com/gifs/X9GgvnQmIwxGxQgz93

However, the fishing line apparently broke in the end and the eagle ray got away.

Mixed reactions

It is not a common sight to see wild rays of this size in Singapore, especially when they are in the open water.

People who commented on the video were generally impressed by this tug-o-war, as well as at the rare sighting of this big eagle ray.

However, the diversity of marine life in Singapore waters cannot be underestimated.

The catches at Bedok Jetty are diverse and one can expect tambans and ikan parang (also known as sai toh) in shallow water and even barracudas and stingrays in deep water.

Some of the commenters were concerned that the eagle ray had been harmed as it was visibly stressed and wanted to get away.

Translation: Towards the end of the video, I feel the ray was so poor thing, not sure if it managed to escape successfully.

Full video here:

[video width="360" height="640" mp4="https://static.mothership.sg/1/2018/11/10000000_724306184611716_1155962899443570852_n-1.mp4"][/video]

Top photo collage from screenshots of Gary Lim's video.