These Giant Pacific Mantas congregate in large numbers at San Benedicto and use the cleaning stations there at the submerged seamount. Socorro Islands - Known for having the 'worlds friendliest Manta Rays', the Socorros in Mexico is one of the best places for real up-close Manta-Ray encounters. Many liveaboards in these areas have itineraries that visit specific dive sites to enable divers and snorkelers the chance to see these creatures in their natural habitat. Manta Rays generally stop off at 'cleaning stations', where numerous different fish such as butterflyfish and cleaner wrasse hang out waiting for larger fish to swing by for a clean-up, similar to a car wash! Best places to dive with Manta Raysĭue to the vast distances these gentle giants cover, Manta Rays can be spotted in many places around the world, however, there are some places that offer better chances of diving with Mantas than others. Despite their size, these beautiful creatures are incredibly graceful in the water, and even playful, swimming in and out of exhaled bubbles and barrel rolling mid-water to show off their elegance. Scuba diving or snorkeling with Manta Rays truly is a magical experience and one you will remember for a lifetime. The Manta alfredi, or reef manta, is smaller in size with an average width of 3m and is generally spotted in shallow coastal areas. The Oceanic Manta has an average wingspan of 5m/16ft. The Manta birostris, or Giant Oceanic Manta, which can be sighted along productive coastlines and are known to travel great distances. With one of the largest brains in the fish world, there are 2 separate species of Manta Ray. These majestic creatures, a member of the shark & ray family, can grow up to 7m/23ft in length and can weigh up to an astounding 2 tonnes in weight! However, these gentle giants feed on tiny zooplankton, funnelling it into their mouths using 2 large lobes at the front of their head. Some entangled mantas would swim directly to us as if to solicit assistance.Best places to dive with Manta Rays Diving with Giant Manta on Nautilus Belle Amie, Socorro, Mexico Diving with Manta Raysĭiving with Manta Rays has to be on most divers wish list, and with good reason. These encounters always reminded us how intelligent these animals truly are. Our team members could spend entire dives cutting away at the nets and lines- the mantas patiently cooperating, remaining calm, barely swimming, the whole time. There were times I would find myself hooked and entangled myself as I tried to rescue the mantas, and I constantly worried about getting pulled into the depths once connected to the mantas and the lines. Some of the mantas were so badly entangled with heavily fouled nets that the lines would embed into their skin, making rescue extremely difficult and dangerous. Every year we would spend dive after dive removing fishing lines, hooks, and, worst case, large fishing nets from the mantas. "I was shocked to see how prevalent entanglements were in the region. Andrea details harrowing accounts of rescues during her time there: Sadly, the study surfaced an alarming finding– over 500 individuals showed human-induced scarring, mainly from nets or fishing line entanglement – highlighting a significant threat from fishing in the region. A giant oceanic manta getting friendly with our photo identification team off the coast of Ecuador.Ĭopyright: Andrea Marshall The prevalence of fishing line entanglements
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