Ray Id help

[hotrodmarlin]

fished out of Bogue inlet on friday around 20 miles out. Thought we saw a huge patch of weed but it kept swimming away from us. A little closer and we thought they were turtles. Same color- greenish yellow. When we finally got up on them, we were in a huge school of Rays. wingspan was 2' to about 6'. My best guess is there were a couple thousand of them. Incredible- Discovery channel kind of stuff.
I searched around and can't figure out what kind they are. The pictures we took didn't really come out. None of the internet pics I've found seem to match. They had the shape of a manta ray just smaller. Any ideas?

[WAHOONBOX]

NO COBIAS WITH THEM?

[Swami]

Maybe they were cownose rays? I've seen them in large schools when they're migrating up and down the coast--cool sight for sure.

[hotrodmarlin]

Maybe they were cownose rays? I've seen them in large schools when they're migrating up and down the coast--cool sight for sure.

Yeah my best guess was cownose but all the pictures seem a lot grayer than the yellow/green color. probably what they were.

Box- nothing following, nothing leading them. we trolled around for a while and pitched a few things trying to get under em but nada.

Ended up with 5 nice mahi and a big king but kind of slow overall. Not bad on store bought rigs, broken rod tips and rusty hooks...ahh the joy of fishing on other peoples boats..

[Bird Dog]

Probably a cow nose like Swami said. They're known to travel in huge schools like that. Depending on water color/clarity they can appear a darkish yellow color especially with bright sunlight. They're a problem up here in the Bay.