This is the moment fishermen rescued a stingray that was caught in a fishing net in Thailand.

Video shows sailors untangling the marine creature after it was scooped up by the net off the Similan Islands in Phang Nga province, on January 16.

The massive sea ray, said to weigh around 450lbs, flapped its pectoral fins as the crew lifted it above the haul of fish.

The fishermen then dropped it into the Andaman Sea, where it glided away into its natural habitat.

Tana Ketsa-ard, owner of the Thanakorn 99 fishing boat, said they were casting nets some four miles off Phang Nga when they caught the stingray.

He said: 'While reeling the net to see our catch, I found a large stingray instead. I asked my subordinates to help me free it into the sea. I couldn't do it myself because it was quite large.

'I'm happy that I was able to save the stingray. I have never seen one so large before.'

Last week, divers rescued a sea ray caught in a net also in southern Thailand.

Staff of the Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park were cleaning underwater waste when they found the small stingray struggling in the ghost net in Krabi province on January 8.

They used scissors to cut the fishing equipment, and the sea ray then fluttered away into the deep upon being freed.