Safe and Sustainable Practices for Manta Ray Encounters
Two common practices - touching manta rays and free diving towards them - pose significant threats to manta rays.
One of our goals at Hawaii Ocean Watch is to educate people on what it means to create a safe and respectful environment where mantas can be observed without disruption or harm.
Understanding the consequences of these actions is key to protecting the gentle giants of the ocean.
Getting too close to manta rays and touching them can harm their health and well-being. Touching manta rays or free diving in their vicinity is not respectful to the ocean and its inhabitants, and here’s why.
Touching a Manta can Harm Them Physically
The manta ray's skin is covered with a protective slime coating that guards against infection. When humans touch them, this coating is removed, exposing the manta rays to potential diseases and infections.
Touching a Manta Ray can Frighten Them
Manta rays perceive physical contact as a threat, which can scare them and alter their natural behaviors.
In Kona, humans can get very close to the mantas while the mantas are feeding on plankton at manta ray viewing sites. And sometimes, the mantas get so close you could even touch them.
However, if a manta is startled by a human trying to touch it, it may avoid areas frequented by humans. This can, in turn, significantly alter its feeding habits and behavior.
This impacts the manta rays' health and diminishes the quality and quantity of interactions for future observers.
Watch the video below to understand how manta rays react when humans touch them. Hopefully, it will encourage you not to do the same.
The Impact of Free Diving on Manta Rays
At the manta viewing sites, snorkelers are supposed to stay at the surface - while scuba divers are asked to stay together on the sandy ocean floor. That way, manta rays can swim and feed freely in the corridor between the two.
Image courtesy of Martina Wing at MantaRayAdvocates.com
However, some snorkelers try to free-dive to see manta rays from up close. The rapid approach can startle the mantas, often causing them to flee.
In their flight, manta rays will likely collide with people or objects. They are giant fish and need a lot of free space to maneuver!
Conclusion
Manta rays perceive these interactions with humans as predatory attacks. It teaches them that humans are to be feared and conditions them to stay away from us.
We see more and more participants in manta ray tours ignore these simple rules; if this trend continues, it will change the behavior of the mantas as they will no longer feel safe around us.
Encouraging Respectful Practices
We urge all visitors and tour operators to follow established standards prohibiting touching and free diving with manta rays.
If you plan to participate in a manta ray activity, please read and adhere to these safe and respectful interaction guidelines during your swim.
Let’s help manta rays continue to feel safe in their natural habitats, undisturbed by harmful human interactions.