Sir Richard Branson, Her Deepness Sylvia Earle and the Ocean Elders have joined the crusade to protect manta rays in 2013.

The OceanElders are trying to get every country in the world to ban the wholesale slaughter of giant manta rays.

Richard Branson does “The Manta”

On Richard Branson’s personal blog, he explains that in 2013, “our attention will focus on the way we are destroying the ocean”.

This is an important year for manta rays. Later this year countries around the world will vote whether to list mantas on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

This will be an important first step towards regulating the international trade that is driving the decline in manta populations.

And with the entrepreneurial brains of the Ocean Elders involved, we appear to be on the right track!