Red Sea Life
Manta mouth feeding image: Guy Stevens
Spring has seen a huge number of manta ray sightings, particularly around the southern tip of the Sinai this year.
To mark a month of mighty manta spots, SAvE OuR SEAS cameraman Owen Bruce kicks off his Red Sea Life series
by looking at these ‘angels of the sea’. Photographs by Guy Stevens.
Manta rays are the largest of the 500 ray species, reaching one area all year feeding away from the reef in the blue and regularly
wingspans of more than 8m and weight exceeding 2,000kg. Mantas visiting cleaning stations on the reef.
reach this enormous size by feeding solely on minute plankton.
The larger pelagic species is an ocean traveller. It travels great
They have large modified fins at the front of their head called caphalic distances as it follows plankton on ocean currents, and relatively little
lobes, which are unfurled while feeding to guide large volumes of is known of its behaviour. It has a far more elusive nature and is only
plankton rich water into their enormous mouths. Once inside their ever encountered on offshore reefs and seamounts, where it travels
mouths, modified gill rakers then filter out the plankton. The caphalic to be cleaned or to follow plankton blooms carried close to reefs by
lobes are rolled up into hornlike ocean currents. This species can grow
projections when not in use – these Manta mouth feeding image: Guy Stevens considerably larger than the resident
‘horns’ give rise to the family name mantas. Its size and behaviour varies
‘devil ray’ which includes the mantas slightly from the smaller resident
and their smaller cousins the mobula species, as does its shape and colour.
rays (Mobula tarapacana). Unlike Both species are present in the Red
stingrays, manta rays have no sting in Sea and regularly sighted throughout
their tail and despite their considerable Egyptian waters. The smaller resident
size are completely harmless to species is resident along the Egyptian
humans. coastline, while the larger pelagic
mantas often visit the deeper
In 2008 manta ray researcher, Dr. offshore reefs of the Marsa Alam
Andrea Marshall of the Save Our Seas area and dive sites in Tiran and Ras
foundation, proved that there are two Mohammed.
individual species of the ray we divers
normally call the manta ray, possibly Pelagic mantas are far less curious
even a third. Based in Mozambique, Dr. towards divers than their smaller
Marshall used DNA and morphological analysis to describe a slightly relatives, and will generally shy away when approached. The dive
smaller residential manta ray species (Manta birostris) and a larger sites around Near, Far and Middle Gardens in Sharm always seems
migratory pelagic species (Manta alfredi). The smaller, more common to be a hot spot in the summer months for manta rays and their
species reaches sizes of up to m. The common manta will stay in fellow planktivores, the whale sharks. This could be explained by an
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Issue 1 June 2009
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