Numerous suspected stingrays were seen on September 3 near Tung Cheong Street Community Hall in Tai Po town centre, along the Lam Tsuen River and beneath nearby bridges. Residents and members of the public gathered on the banks and bridges to watch the fish.
Reports said people tried to catch the fish with fishing rods, nets and a small boat. The accounts gave different figures: Ming Pao reported that an angler caught several fish and that another person captured two from a speedboat, while Star Headline said a small boat lifted at least nine from the river. The reports did not establish whether the figures referred to the same catching activity, so no confirmed total is available.
Some reports also described fish being placed in a bicycle basket and one fish reportedly having its tail cut off. These details were reported accounts and were not independently verified in the supplied reports.
Cheung Tai-wah, president of the Hong Kong Ichthyological Society, said the fish were likely red stingrays, or Hemitrygon akajei, commonly known as devil rays. His identification was based on the reported sighting and photographs, rather than an independent confirmation of every fish present.
Cheung said recent consecutive rain and increased water flow might have stimulated the fish’s activity. He also suggested that the end of the fishing moratorium, the resumption of fishing at sea, or an increase in fish numbers during the moratorium could have encouraged the stingrays to move closer to the riverbank to feed. He said the area might provide suitable brackish-water conditions and that the sighting could indicate a recovery in fish numbers, but these were assessments or possibilities rather than established causes.
Reports differed on whether the appearance was unusual. One quoted a local angler who had lived in the area for decades and said he had never seen stingrays there, while another said they appeared in the river after typhoons. Cheung said people could watch the fish, but urged them not to feed or capture them. The exact species, total number caught and condition or whereabouts of captured fish remain unclear from the reports.