Hanifaru Bay’s Manta Season – A Bucket List Experience
Hanifaru Bay’s manta season is one of the world’s natural wonders. This phenomenal overlap of time and place results in a wildlife spectacle unique to this part of the globe, one that draws awe-struck visitors in search of a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Below, our resident marine biologist and self-proclaimed manta adorer, Emily Wilson, shares her insights on these exceptional creatures and one of their favourite feeding spots, which is fortuitously located near our luxury resort.
The Wonders of Hanifaru Bay – Manta Mayhem | By Emily Wilson
The Maldives is blessed to host an immense resident population of reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi) and an annual migratory population of oceanic manta rays (Mobula birostris). Locally-based NGO, The Manta Trust, estimates around 4,000 reef mantas call this Indian Ocean archipelago home – making the Maldives reef manta population the largest recorded in the world. They are year-round residents, migrating across the nation’s 26 atolls in tandem with the alternating monsoon seasons and resulting shifts in zooplankton abundance. At certain times of the year, key sites concoct the perfect feeding conditions for manta rays (with the occasional whale shark or two – Rhincodon typus – sharing the banquet).
Hanifaru Bay is one such site. Nestled within the UNESCO Baa Atoll Biosphere Reserve, it is renowned for one of the biggest-known manta rays aggregations in the world. Hundreds of individuals gather, performing grand displays of feeding behaviour that are only witnessed in a handful of places globally. Due to the unique structure of the outer reefs, every year from May to December during the southwest monsoon (Hulhan’gu in the local language), strong lunar tides battle the prevailing monsoon currents, sucking plankton-rich waters from the deep outer atoll. Inside the Hanifaru Bay channel, a back eddy traps high concentrations of macroscopic life, irresistibly delicious to marine megafauna such as manta rays and whale sharks.
Manta Cyclones
The Hanifaru region is especially famous for manta cyclones, a unique feeding strategy where large numbers of rays swim interwoven, circulating the water to create a vortex, ready with mouths open wide to engulf the zooplankton.
In a recent study published by Aquatic Biology, a team of scientists discovered that when waters were more plankton rich, mantas would perform more group-feeding behaviours such as piggy-back and chain feeding – versus solo styles such as straight and surface swimming and somersaulting. Similarly, the abundance of their particular dietary favourites – certain copepods and crustaceans – resulted in performances of their most elaborate feeding moves.
A Bucket List Experience
The AquaNautica dive team are ecstatic when manta season approaches as the resort is ideally located within a 15-minute boat cruise to this mobula ray hotspot. Divemaster and water sports expert Torbe describes swimming with manta rays at Hanifaru Bay as a “bucket list experience.. observing the mantas dancing and twirling just a metre or two below your feet is incredible. At times, there are no other boats in sight, giving guests a chance to have a unique and personal encounter with the rays that live near us.”
Environmental Protection
Due to this unique phenomenon, the Hanifaru region is heavily protected by the Environmental Protection Agency and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Guides must first obtain a licence, scuba diving and fishing activities are banned, a strict speed limit is enforced by the diligent park rangers, and any disturbance to the marine megafauna, including littering, incurs a hefty fine.
Historically, mobulid rays evaded commercial fisheries; their biggest threat was incidental bycatch in vast trawling nets. However, in recent years, a new market has emerged, with their gill plates sought for use in Asian medicine. Classified ‘Endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, manta rays are particularly slow to recover from population decline; females mantas take 5–10 years to reach reproduction age, they experience a long gestation period of one year, and they usually give birth to a single pup every 1–3 years.
Researching These Unique Creatures
Manta rays are incredible animals capable of complex social behaviour and advanced cognition; they can, after all, navigate the vast expanse of water encompassing the Maldives archipelago. At The Nautilus, we feel privileged to be located within the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and in such close proximity to one of the largest gatherings of manta rays in the world. And now we’re even more privileged, as we begin capturing survey data and photos of the reef mantas’ striking spots for The Manta Trust’s photo-ID database.
Each manta ray has a unique spotted design on its belly, akin to a finger print. Solely through photographing the patterns of pigmentation, we can identify the individual. The trust is then able to report whether this is a re-sighting of a regular visitor to Hanifaru Bay or a completely new sighting – at which point you are given the opportunity to name the manta. By keeping data on individuals, scientists are able to estimate population size and document movements seasonally and in spatial distribution. By accumulating detailed data, important information such as migration patterns and habitat hotspots for feeding and mating can be revealed – all of which is crucial for understanding how to better conserve this species.
From May to December, you can witness this incredible phenomenon during your stay at The Nautilus – get in touch at [email protected] to start planning your once-in-a-lifetime experience.