Did you know that Manta Rays are gentle giants and close relatives of sharks? They must remain in perpetual motion to keep water flowing through their gills. They have the largest brains of all the fish and are genuinely curious of SCUBA divers and snorkelers. Each Manta Ray has unique spots on its belly. The spots are used by scientists to identify and track Manta Ray’s. If you submit a picture of the Manta’s belly to the Manta Trust (mantatrust.org) and it hasn’t been identified before, then you get the opportunity to name it.
We were fortunate enough to see a Manta Ray as we started our “Power Snorkel”. Power Snorkeling is the Kwajalein slang for snorkeling with a Diver Propulsion Vehicle (DPV). The DPV is an underwater scooter enabling divers and snorkelers to explore further and in this case swim with wildlife that we couldn’t keep up with normally. We were lucky enough to have about 60 minutes with this gentle giant before moving on. In the video, you can see two Remora with the Manta Ray, a black tip shark swimming by, and the Manta Ray swimming past the wreck of a WWII Japanese patrol boat.
We are still waiting to hear if our Manta Ray already has a name or if we will get the opportunity to name it.