MANTA RAY FLORIDA HOW TO

She spotted a few of the 59 rays multiple times over the years, including one she and her colleagues named Stevie Nicks and a particularly omnipresent ray called Gillie, whom they spotted 23 times. Later, she also incorporated aerial photography from drones and small aircraft into her data. вЂњI can tell you that IвЂ™ve identified every single manta-shaped rock in South Florida,вЂќ she quips. Standing on the bow as the boat slowly motored along, Pate would look for large, dark shapes moving over the white sand. вЂњRight under our noseвЂќДЇor her research, Pate borrowed her grandfatherвЂ™s fishing boat and spent as many days as she could combing the shallow waters between Jupiter Island and Boynton Beach. There is also genetic evidence, to be published in a forthcoming paper, that the Florida manta rays belong to a third, new species of manta ray, Pate adds. added the giant manta ray as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers both manta species, the giant manta ray (which can reach widths of 29 feet) and the reef manta ray as vulnerable to extinction.

MANTA RAY FLORIDA HOW TO

That's why newfound nursery may reveal more about this little-understood creature, and how to conserve it. вЂњThereвЂ™s so little we know about mantas,вЂќ she adds, such as where they give birth, how long they live, how they choose mates. вЂњIt was amazing because it was an unexpected finding, and the other two nursery grounds were also just identified in 20,вЂќ in Indonesia and the Gulf of Mexico, says Pate, founder and lead scientist of the Florida Manta Project.

Manta ray florida