With Pacific Manta Research Group, Baja, Mexico
Pacific Manta Research Group focuses on the manta rays of the Eastern Pacific, including the Revillagigedo Archipelago, the Gulf of California, and Banderas Bay, Mexico. The photo-ID database reaches from
1978 to the present, with over 650 individuals identified, of which 250+ have been seen more than once. It has listening stations installed at all 3 locations currently, noting the presence of acoustically tagged mantas. Enjoy our little page, and please contact us if you have questions or answers, or better yet, images, of these friendly yet mysterious fish.
https://pacificmantaresearchgroup.shutterfly.com/
With Maldivian Manta Ray Project by Manta Trust, Maldives
Formed in 2005, the Maldivian Manta Ray Project (MMRP) is the founding project of the Manta Trust. It consists of a country-wide network of dive instructors, biologists, communities and tourism operators, with roughly a dozen MMRP staff based across several atolls.
The MMRP collects data around the country’s manta population, its movements, and how the environment and tourism / human interactions affect them. Since its inception, the project has identified over 4,300 different individual reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi), from more than 50,000 photo-ID sightings – many of which submitted by members of the public via IDtheManta. This makes the Maldivian reef manta population the largest, and one of the most intensively studied populations in the world.
The long-term and nationwide data collected by the MMRP has allowed researchers to record and identify key patterns within this population over time. Not only does this invaluable information improve our understanding of these animals, but it in
forms their on-going management and protection. Research driven by the MMRP has been directly responsible for protecting mantas and their most critical habitats within the Maldives, but has also played a significant role in gaining protection for populations in other corners of our ocean.
https://www.mantatrust.org/maldives/