10/9/2018 Baja’s Manta Mystery

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Baja’s Manta MysteryBy Luke Inman, October 2, 2018 @ 06:00 AM (EST)

What is behind the mysterious disappearance of the manta rays off La Paz, Mexico?  

In 2003, the giant mantas that aggregated at La Paz’s dive site “La Reina” disappeared. Researcherstheorized as to why, but the sudden and apparent removal of all the individuals became a local andinternational enigma. Where had they gone?   

A Manta MysteryGiant mantas are large pelagic animals that can travel huge distances. Had they just moved on? Noone remembers a time without giant mantas in the Bay of La Paz or around the seamounts andpinnacles of El Bajo and La Reina. Perhaps they had been fished for their valuable gill rakers. Couldthis researcher’s enigma actually be a murder mystery? Most of all—aside from all of the questions—the mantas’ disappearance was just sad.  

The feeling of loss had slowly become one of acceptance—for me, at least. The hope of their returnbecame no more than a pipe dream. When visiting divers inquired about the mantas, I’d have a simple-but-devastating reply: “No, the mantas are gone.” 

Sporadically, divers had seen mantas at La Reina over the last couple of years: One or two animalshere and there, shy and timid. But it was nothing compared to the swooping, gliding, and inquisitivemantas of old.  

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10/9/2018 Baja’s Manta Mystery

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The loss of the manta rays was a devastating blow to divers and underwater photographers  

The mantas were once present in large numbers and often comfortable getting close to divers

 

The Return of the MantasIn July of this year, I experienced something underwater unlike anything else before. My heart raced.My pulse skyrocketed. Fifteen years of loss and acceptance was swiftly replaced by joy and love. Likean infatuated schoolboy seeing his first love return or a girl hearing a Shakespearian sonnet spun bythe bard himself, I was filled with a love only the ocean can provide. 

The manta swooped in right beside me. I swear she was smiling—grinning from cephalic fin to fin. “Weare back,” she might have whispered.  

We are now well into the 2018 season and the mantas have stuck around. Very few scientists arewilling to commit a theory explaining the mantas’ absence and subsequent return to La Reina. Insearch of an explanation, I spoke with Dr. Frida Lara from Pelagios Kakunjá and marine biologist PaulAhuja. Both scientists expressed delight in the mantas’ return, but they stressed that now is the time toobserve and study. Little is known about these animals here in La Paz.  

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10/9/2018 Baja’s Manta Mystery

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The mantas have returned to La Reina. But how long will they stay around?  

Little is known about the region’s manta rays. Scientists, researchers, and local dive shops hope to

change  that

 

A Scientific ExplanationThe disappearance and return of La Reina’s mantas deserve a worthy hypothesis for an explanation.Dr. Lara and her colleagues have tagged one of the mantas and named it Fenix (Spanish for“phoenix”). There is a long history of tagging the region’s mantas, although not specifically in La Reina.Working for Manta Mexico, Ahuja collected data on 52 individual animals from 1999 to 2002. 

“It does not seem possible to have had 52 animals fished out,” said Ahuja, who instead suggested atraumatic event like orcas hunting down the animals. Dr. Lara added that recent legislation (NORMA059) has also increased the protection of mantas from fisherman.

Essentially, until more data is collected, the most likely theory is that the mantas’ absence is part of anatural life cycle that these beautiful pelagic animals have yet to reveal. The scientists didn’t want tospeculate about the specific behavior that may have been behind the change. I guess we will just haveto wait.  

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It is unlikely that the mantas were fished to the brink of extinction. A yet-to-be-determined natural life

cycle is more likely  

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More data collection will aid in the understanding and protection of the manta rays

 

Sustainable Ecotourism—A Long-Term Perspective To put things into perspective, in 2003 when the mantas disappeared, La Paz was only just gettingwireless Internet; Finding Nemo was the top grossing movie; and smartphones weren’t even a thing. Somuch has happened since then: Great Britain has had four prime ministers, the United States has gonethrough three presidents, and David Beckham has served up 19 different hair styles.  

Social media was in its infancy back in 2003, but it has become a crucial tool for documenting thereturn of the mantas. The local scuba, freediving, tourism and research communities have ralliedtogether on social media.  We are seeing unparalleled collaborations between WWF Mexico, PelagiosKakunjá, Manta Mexico, Pelagic Life, ECO, The Pacific Manta Group, Whale Shark Mexico, and manylocal scuba centers—along with the government. These collaborations are focused on research andbest interaction practices.  

10/9/2018 Baja’s Manta Mystery

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Cooperation between divers, scientists, and the government is paramount for the mantas’ revival at La

Reina  

My dive center Cortez Expeditions took the lead and published the first local protocol for mantainteraction. We practice a “no anchor policy” to avoid entanglement with the rays. We hope others willfollow our lead. These ideas and protocols are in constant flux and can change based on the scientificfindings and general everyday observations. 

The long-term cooperation between research institutions and tourism entities can only lead to moreunderstanding, awareness, and more-sustainable practices for manta interaction.   

Some dive operators have established manta interaction rules to ensure sustainable encounters

 

Photographing the Mantas of La Paz, Baja The return of the mantas also gives the opportunity for underwater photographers to get stunning shotswithout having to spend thousands of dollars to travel to Socorro on a liveaboard. Plus, in La Paz, youget playful sea lions thrown in for good measure. 

La Reina is a small islet situated approximately two hours by boat from La Paz and the dive sitebottoms out around 50 feet (18 meters). The mantas are invariably cruising between the outcrops ofrock and reef. So far, 11 different manta individuals have been identified. Some have proved to be shywhile others are super inquisitive. Fifteen years ago, the manta season could last from July through tomid-November. I can only hope this will continue to be the case.   

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Photographing the mantas from below provides key details to help scientists identify individuals  

I plan to update this article and publish more information concerning the mantas’ return. Let’s hope thatthe manta named “Fenix” is true to its mythical reputation. In Dante’s Inferno, the phoenix lives for 500years. “The phoenix dies, and then is born again, when it approaches its five-hundredth year.”

I may not be around to update DPG readers in 500 years, but let’s hope the mantas will still be cruisingat La Reina.   

Hopefully, La Reina’s manta rays will be around for many more years to come