1. Did you know that the Baa Atoll is the Manta Capital of the Maldives and worldwide considered a hot spot for manta sightings?
Every Wednesday PADI Instructor Margherita Cimenti does a presentation on Manta Rays and explains you everything there is to know on mantas:

There are about 4000 – 5000 mantas in the Maldives
Female reef mantas grow to a size of about 4.5 metres and are bigger than males
As mantas don’t build nests or have beautiful feathers like birds their courtship looks different. The males follow the female for up to a week and they have to proof that they are good swimmers and can copy and perform tricky swimming manoeuvers
Females are mature at 12 years of age, they are pregnant for 11 months, give birth to 1 pup that is the size of 2 metres. As pregnancy and birth is strenuous they have break of about 2 years between pregnancies.
The different feeding methods are surface feeding, barrel rolling, chain feeding and cyclone feeding
Mantas feed on plankton.
Mantas have no teeth and no stinger.
The older the manta the shorter the tail. Each time a manta comes to a cleaner station the little cleaner wrasse eat away on the tail.
Like our finger prints are unique, each manta has a unique spot pattern on their belly and can be recognized.
Margherita explains you also about the Baa Atoll being the first and only Atoll in the Maldives to be declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO and about Hanifaru Bay being a core area!

She shows you videos, photos and graphics and you can get involved by guessing how old a manta can get. With her passion for the ocean and love for mantas she has a great way to share this presentation with you. Join us next Wednesday!