White-tips

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Thu 9 May 2013 22:57
Snorkelling with Mantas and White-Tipped Sharks
 
 
 
 
 
 
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We left the lava tunnels and found loads of manta rays taking the sun. I took this shot just before we got in to swim with them, my camera was out of its cover so I left it behind. Massive, graceful and oddly beautiful. Sadly Bear thought he had his camera switched on and clicking away as a huge swimming carpet swam below him. Never mind. The experience was surreal. I was talking to our guide when a giant took off, was a full two feet above the surface and splashed down. The guide was standing right in front of Bear so he missed it. Mmmm.
 
 
A mobula in Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
 
A manta in Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
 
 
These pictures are with grateful thanks to Wikipedia. Manta rays are large eagle rays belonging to the genus Manta. The larger species, M. birostris, reaches twenty six feet in width while the smaller, M. alfredi, reaches eighteen feet. Both have triangular pectoral fins, horn-shaped cephalic fins and large, forward-facing mouths. They are classified among the Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) and are placed in the eagle ray family Myliobatidae.
 
 
Manta being cleaned
 
Manta visiting a cleaning station.

 

 

Mantas can be found in temperate, subtropical and tropical waters. Both species are pelagic; M. birostris migrates across open oceans, singly or in groups, while M. alfredi tends to be resident and coastal. They are filter feeders and eat large quantities of zooplankton, which they swallow with their open mouths as they swim. Gestation lasts over a year, producing live pups. Mantas may visit cleaning stations for the removal of parasites. Like whales, they breach, for unknown reasons.

 

 

Manta alfredi foraging

A gentle giant feeding

 

Both species are listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Anthropogenic threats include pollution, entanglement in fishing nets, and direct harvesting for their gill rakers for use in Chinese medicine. Their slow reproductive rate exacerbates these threats. They are protected in international waters by the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals, but are more vulnerable closer to shore. Areas where mantas congregate are popular with tourists. Only a few aquariums are large enough to house them. In general, these large fish are seldom seen and difficult to study. We were very lucky indeed.
 
 
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Our next stop was amongst a mangrove area in shallow water. We were hoping to see white-tips. We swam up behind this little chap but as he slid in it was quite clear he was going at just the one speed – like a rocket.
 
 
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It wasn’t too long before we saw a white-tip but he shot into a dark cave.
 
 
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A Galapagos ray ambled by.
 
 
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Lots of fish to see and the tell-tale white markings in the distance.
 
 
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Missed. Too late as this this takes a turn behind a rock.
 
 
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Oops, chopped his tail off.
 
 
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They have the gills and beady eyes of their relatives but are quite shy.
 
 
 
 
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ALL IN ALL WHAT AN EXPERIENCE