Who is who

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!

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