On 13 April 1929, Motion Picture News announced that director Tod Browning was at work on The Sea Bat for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp., and that he was expected to film the project in the West Indies. Five days later, the 18 April 1929 LAT added that Elliott Clawson was writing the film’s story. By 31 August 1929, Victor Fleming had taken over the role of director, as stated in that day’s Motion Picture News, but he was replaced by Hunt Stromberg, as noted in the 2 October 1929 Variety, and finally by Wesley Ruggles, as of a report in the 20 January 1930 Film Daily. At that time, actor Charles Bickford was listed in a leading role and Dorothy Yost was credited with having written an original story. Filming was relocated to Mazatlán, Mexico. Although some modern sources credit Lionel Barrymore as a director, his name was not mentioned in the trades at the time of production.
       M-G-M purchased a 150-foot schooner to build “the first seagoing sound stage,” according to the 22 January 1920 Variety. A separate news item in the same issue of Variety noted that Ruggles and company were currently on their way to Mazatlán. A column in the 25 January 1930 Motion Picture News added that the production was one of the first to shoot in Mexico “for some years.” Filming was underway as of 8 February 1930, as that day’s Hollywood Filmograph reported that Ruggles was directing 500 people in The Sea Bat, described as “a romance of sponge divers… [with] scenes both below and above water.”
       The 22 February 1930 Hollywood Filmograph announced that Ruggles was scheduled to return from Mexico in several weeks to direct interior scenes at the M-G-M studio lot. An article about Nils Asther in the same issue of Hollywood Filmograph stated that filming was delayed several days in Mexico due to inclement weather. Ruggles and company returned to Los Angeles by 1 March 1930, according to that day’s Hollywood Filmograph, which noted that the production in Mexico took one month to complete and that “hundreds of native extras who understood no English” were employed as background actors. Shooting continued in Los Angeles in early March 1930, as the 12 March 1930 Variety reported that Charles Bickford was causing trouble at M-G-M for “his stubborn refusal to work nights.” Although M-G-M executives reminded Bickford that his contract called for evening shoots if necessary, the actor “offered to buy back his contract from the company for $100,000.” M-G-M told Variety that the deal was not under consideration.
       A review in the 3 May 1930 Motion Picture News listed a duration of 73 minutes and a release date of 7 June 1930. The Sea Bat was still in theaters in September 1930, as the [Sidney, NE] Telegraph-News noted that the film would be screened that Saturday at the Fox Theater and included a detailed article about the production. According to the Telegraph-News, the movie, with its crew of 62 personnel, was “believed to be the largest motion picture expedition to leave Hollywood for another American country.” The production required “three Pullmans and two baggage cars… with 200 tons of equipment,” and “an inventory of articles taken into Mexico under customs bond covered more than 1,000 pages and showed a total value of $80,000.” The article also claimed that the titular subject of the film—the giant stingray—was filmed for the first time in The Sea Bat. The article continued: “A portable laboratory developed the film from day to day. More than 100 huge arc and side lamps were taken for night scenes, while extra generators were sent from the Culver City studios which carried sufficient power to substitute for Mazatlán’s own electric plant as the need arose.”