(WPRI) — Marine biologists with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) made a rare catch while working in local waters this past month.

In a social media post shared Tuesday morning, the DEM announced that the marine biologists "accidentally" caught and safely released a female cownose ray.

The marine biologists caught the cownose ray while working on a Coastal Pond Seine Survey, which the DEM conducts regularly to monitor the populations of juvenile fish and invertebres in saltwater ponds.

It's unclear exactly where the marine biologists were collecting pond samples at the time the cownose ray was discovered.

Cownose rays are primarily found in the Atlantic Ocean between New England and Brazil, according to the DEM, but "are not as common at the northern extent

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