Mighty, Magestic Mobula
What’s happening to these quiet giants of the sea?
There are only two species of Manta ray in the genus Manta; the giant oceanic manta (Mobula birostris) and the reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi). To see these giants, I travelled all the way to Tofo, Mozambique on the eastern coast of southern Africa. Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, the giant manta is listed as ‘threatened’ and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists both species as ‘vulnerable’ with decreasing populations. For reference, the IUCN scale is as follows from least to greatest threat: Not evaluated (NE), Data Deficient (DD), Least Concern (LC), Near Threatened (NT), Vulnerable (VU), Endangered (EN), Critically Endangered (CR), Extinct in the Wild (EW) and Extinct (EX).
In addition to giant and reef mantas, devil rays (Mobula spp.) are also highly vulnerable. Fishing pressure in addition to the gill plate trade continue to cause declines in the populations of these majestic creatures. Gill plates from large rays are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and are used in a tonic that purports to boost immune systems and blood circulation.
Though manta rays are high on the food web and have few predators, they serve a very important role in the health of marine ecosystems. Additionally, according to IUCN.org, tourism generated through the desire to see these huge giants generates approximately $140 million dollars per year. Though I am a proponent of conserving these beautiful, graceful giants from an environmental standpoint, economically, manta rays and other large, charismatic marine megafauna bring more money into communities through the creation of eco-tourism dollars than if they are fished to extinction.
If you are interested in learning more about manta rays and the challenges they face (microplastics!!!), visit:
https://oceana.org/marine-life/sharks-rays/giant-manta-ray
https://marinemegafaunafoundation.org/our-work/
And for my fabunerds out there, you can support manta ray research and conservation through the purchase of leggings made from plastic bottles:
