![]() Manta birth has never been seen in the wild so we don’t even know where they go to give birth. Gestation lasts for 12 months and there is still so much we don’t know about it. Mantas give birth to live young which are already about 1.5m in size and come out like a little rolled up ‘manta burrito’. This means that they reproduce at a very slow rate which is why it is so important to protect this species. Mantas reach mature breeding age between 6-10 years of age and a female will produce 1 pup every 1-2 years. These areas typically have high a concentration of plankton where mantas congregate to feed. The largest populations occur in areas of upwelling along continental shelves, in island chains, and near seamounts. Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, South Pacific Islands, Mozambique, Red Sea and California all have populations. You can find manta rays in other parts of Indonesia and across the World. What better way to put your new found camera skills to the test? We’re happy to help you get some shots of these majestic beasts □ Join us at Siren Diving on your next visit to Nusa Penida and Lembongan! You can even dive these sights as part of your training. If you touch a marine animal, you removes the mucus. This mucus helps to protect them from infection. Never touch a manta ray, as just like all marine life and even corals, they have a layer of mucus on their skin. But first you must earn their trust and not appear as a threat. If you are lucky, they will swim right over your head as they check you out. If you remain calm and stationary they will often come to you. Manta rays cannot swim backwards so its important not to block their path. This means keeping a distance, not entering a cleaning station and not chasing or blocking their access to a cleaning station. ![]() It is very important that when we dive with large marine animals like mantas (in fact all marine life) that we treat them with respect. ![]() Mantas may spend up to 8 hours on the cleaning station per day. Good to know that this is a mutually beneficial relationship. In retun for doing this hard work, the cleaning fish get a delicious meal of parasites and dead skin, (mmm tasty…). Fish such as sergeant major (facial experts), blue streak cleaner wrasse (gills & mouth) and yellow butterfly fish (wound specialists) can be seen cleaning. There is a symbiotic relationship between the manta and some different types of cleaner fish. This is where mantas and other marine animals come to get their full body scrub, dental work and wound cleaning. The manta rays visit Manta Point more often as we have a large rock rising to near the surface which the mantas identify as a cleaning station. We see them almost daily at Manta Bay and Manta Point on the south coast of Nusa Penida. It is possible to dive with manta rays all year round in Nusa Lembongan. Mantas are found in temperate and tropical waters worldwide, generally between 35 degrees north and south of the equator. Our local Manta Rays are currently under the close study of the Marine Mega Fauna Foundation who monitor a data base of our affectionately named resident Sea Flap Flaps. In Nusa Lembongan and Penida Islands we currently have a healthy (and growing) population of more than 650 individual Manta Rays. Andrea Marshall, (aka The Queen of Mantas), who has spent the last 16 years researching them. Queen of the MantasĪlmost everything we currently know about Manta Rays is thanks to Dr. As they began to move away from the reef and feed in the water column, manta rays evolved to form a large mouth at the front of their head. Sting rays generally have their mouths underneath their bodies as they feed on the sandy areas of the reef. The remnants of a stinger can still be seen on some manta rays as a small lump at the base of the tail. Though they are still considered a ‘ray’, evolution had them lose their stinger so they are completely harmless. Commonly they are mistaken as a type of sting ray.
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