Manta rays Hanifaru

Manta rays Hanifaru

No animal on earth – including birds – flies quite as gracefully as a Manta Ray. I’ve been fascinated with these highly intelligent creatures for over 20 year’s now and have been humbled to be in their presence in many different places. There’s a few Manta Ray photos below along with a Youtube video I made of a mass gathering of hundreds of Manta Rays in Hanifaru.

Manta rays Hanifaru

Manta rays HanifaruThe water is a bit murky as it’s full of plankton but here’s a 3 minute video I made of a manta ray feeding frenzy in Hanifaru bay. Hundreds and hundreds of manta rays gather here during the North West monsoon when this fringing reef fills up with plankton.

There’s a few photos of manta rays, whale sharks and dolphins on my underwater gallery here.

Manta rays have the largest brain of any fish by absolute weight and if you’ve been lucky enough to exchange eye contact with these incredible animals you’ll know there’s a lot going on in there. Their spacial awareness, social interactions and curiosity towards humans indicate a high level of intelligence. Sadly the global catch of manta rays has dramatically increased over the last decade due to demand for their gill rakers from China, where they are sold as medicinal products. For detailed information about the conservation of manta rays and whale sharks head to Marine Megafauna