And here it has arrived, my favorite time of the year, when Manta Rays come back to visit us in Baa Atoll.
One of our first encounters has been with Racheebabes a female manta ray with a small damage on left pectoral fin. We d
idn’t manage to get a picture of Racheebabes, but as you may
already know, the spots on their belly allow us to identify every single Manta Ray and sometimes with a good memory you can remember distinctive features that allow a unique identification.
Racheebabes was happily getting cleaned by Cleaner Wrasses when she decided to turn upside down and show us her beautiful belly pattern and make evolutions underneath us.
This afternoon I will reach Hanifaru Bay and hope to see many more of her friends.
As the seasons has begun, we would like to share a Code of Conduct for interaction with Manta Rays. If we ensure we follow some basic guidelines, we will have the best encounters with Manta Rays. Approaching them from the wrong side, freediving on the cleaning stations, chasing them, riding speedboats close to their grounds are all ways which may compromise our encounters in the best case scenarios and in some situations even create a real danger for them or for us.
Manta Trust has created this short video and a 10 step guide on how to interact with them.
See you all in the water! … The blog continues below…
Update 17.30
We had an incredible afternoon. Leaving a storm behind us and arriving to our Manta Spot as only few other people are in the water, we immediately see those flappy fins moving the surface of the water. We all jump in. What a busy afternoon. The water was green and dense with plankton… As soon as you find a patch of plankton, there they are engulfing as much as they can. It’s not always like today, but when it is like today… WOW…Not 7 years and probably 400 manta snorkelling excursions will ever get me used to this incredible experience!