Ocean Rafting has had its most successful Manta Ray research season yet! On one of our Reef Protection Initiative days, our crew successfully photographed 4 Manta Rays that have never been identified along the East Coast of Australia before! To top that off, we have recently reviewed footage from a snorkel dating back to 2019 where we’ve achieved another 2 IDs!
We are thrilled to introduce you to 5 of our 6 identified Manta Rays!
# 1576 Laele Ellen, # 1577 NautiCal, # 1579 Midha – pronounced Mid-the, which is the aboriginal Ngaro word for “dark” named by Robbie, a Traditional owner in the Whitsundays. #1580 Cosmo Skye, #1581 Martyn.
The 6th Manta Ray (#1578) is to be named by Cannonvale State School as part of a naming contest amongst the students, with the winner to be picked in the first week of Term 4!
Mantas have their own unique markings on their bellies which act as a universal ID, providing a non-invasive way to identify and track individuals. We send off our photographs to the Project Manta database, and if the individual is successfully identified it is assigned a catalogue number and then gets to be named!
Watch this space to see what Manta #1578 will be called, and who the winner is!
