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The first ray breeding site known to man was discovered by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the Gulf of Mexico.
Located near the coast of Texas , at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary from the NOAA , the manta ray breeding site is the first of its kind, as was described in a scientific study.
Joshua Stewart, PhD candidate
for marine biology at Scripps and main author of the study at hand, noticed the young rays while conducting research on the population structure of these animals at the Flower Garden Banks, which is one of the 15 submarine areas protected by the US federal government and the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries of the United States .
“The ray’s early life stages has remained a great mystery to us since we’re rarely capable of observing them,” said Stewart, who is also the executive director of the Manta Trust , a world program for the preservation of rays.
“The fact that we have managed to identify this area as a nursery for the species is all the more reason to highlight the importance of this natural reserve, as well as its preservation and management. It will also give us an opportunity to focus on young rays and learn more from them. This discovery is quite a breakthrough in our understanding of this species and the importance of their habitat.”
Known as the smooth giants of the sea, the oceanic manta rays ( Manta birostris ) are large plankton-eating animals. They live on the open seas and can grow up to 23 feet of wingspan in their adult life.
Oceanic mantas are usually found in tropical and subtropical waters all around the world, with nursing aggregation sites which are usually far away from the shore, making it difficult for scientists to study their populations.
Stewart has spent the past seven years studying manta rays and found hundreds of adult specimens in their natural habitat, but his observation of a juvenile ray at the Flower Garden Banks in 2016 was a rare encounter for him. After noticing other small specimens in the area, he spoke with the marine sanctuary staff to see if the sighting of young rays occurred on a regular basis.
Upon working alongside the marine sanctuary staff, Stewart and his colleagues examined the data from 25 years worth of records of immersion and photo identifications taken by research scuba divers. The manta rays have unique dotted patterns in their lower bodies, which can be used to identify them as would a human fingerprint.
By using the photo identifications and observation data, Stewart and the marine sanctuary staff determined that around 95% of rays visiting the Flower Garden Banks reserve are juvenile, with a 7 feet wingspan, on average.
The investigators have determined that this sanctuary is the first manta ray nursery discovered in the world. Recent genetic evidence has shown that oceanic mantas, as well as a third species of manta which was recently discovered (“ Mobula cf. Birostris ”) are present at the banks.
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