Ombre Ocean Manta Ray

A delight to most ocean lovers, manta rays are queens of the deep. But when we are lucky, they come close to shore. This was a memorable day. We were in the ocean freediving, and taking some photos. Unexpectedly this beauty came gliding in to an area we rarely see mantas – and it stayed with us feeding on copepods for over a half hour!

Hāhālua – Manta Rays

Manta Rays are very special to us at ‘Alohi Kai. Diving on the south shore of Oahu, we spotted a beautiful juvenile manta ray coming straight at us. Read our blog for the story on how we came to have a young manta ray off Oahu named ‘Alohi Kai!

Despite their enormous size, Mantas don’t eat big fish, but rather filter feed on plankton. Reef mantas, as we have in Hawaii, can attain 18 ft (distinct from the giant pacific mantas that get much bigger). Our mantas tend to stay close to shore, which partly helps protect them from large predators like sharks. Manta Rays have the largest brains of any fish, and they reproduce slowly – sadly populations continue to decline, much due to pollution and erosion of habitat. Some estimates say they can live 50-100 years. More information. Status: Vulnerable.

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