It’s our second day of the MantaWatch Internship Program 2019, and today we learned about manta rays and their conservation. It was really fun to learn so much about mantas! We discussed manta taxonomy, appearance, life cycle, and behaviour, and learned that two species of manta are known: the giant manta and the reef manta. 

Sadly, mantas have many threats like pollution, bycatch and overfishing. Fortunately, Indonesia has already created regulations to protect manta rays, creating the world’s largest manta sanctuary. We hope that these regulations can be successful. 

At the end of the day we learned how to develop and present a manta conservation briefing for tourists. It was really fun to practice our briefings, and improve our public speaking.

One of the interesting things I learned today was the manta code of conduct. I will include it in my manta briefings as it has some useful tips to help divers enjoying a closer manta encounter while minimising their impact on the mantas and the environment. You can find our more about the manta code of conduct by clicking here.

I can’t wait to see what will we learn tomorrow!