Scuba diving photographer Jake Wilton was diving when the huge ray approached him with its fins extended. When he saw the hooks right under her eye, he decided to try and help. The underwater photographer dived down to five metres multiple times to remove them with a pair of pliers, which could prevent her developing an infection and potentially going blind.

"I often guide divers in the area and it seemed as if she recognized me and trusted me to help her," Wilton said in a statement.

"She got closer and closer and began to unfold to show me the eye," he continued. Incredible footage shows Wilton repeatedly approaching the animal and removing every last hook one by one, before leaving the scene. The interesting thing is that, again and again, she kept on returning to Jake, I'm sure that manta knew that he was trying to get the hooks out.' said marine biologist Monty Hall.

Manta rays are considered to be one of the most intelligent marine creatures in the world and are very common in some parts of the Western Australian coast. These oceanic giants, who undertake large migrations, exhibit complex social behaviour, can reach up to seven meters in width and live to be 50 years old. Manta rays are known to go out of their way to interact with humans, they are much like mammals in this sense. Their brains can be ten times larger than a whale shark, not only is it physically big but also is large relative to its body.

The three-metre wide ray, nicknamed Freckles locally, was filmed on Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. Watch: Dozens Of Manta Ray Bombard Scuba Diver