World’s first known manta ray nursery discovered

Washington: Scientists have discovered the world's first known natural manta ray nursery, which could allow them to observe the juvenile marine creatures in their habitat and learn more about them. Located in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Texas at US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA)’ s Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, the juvenile manta ray habitat is the first of its kind to be described in a scientific study. Joshua Stewart, a PhD candidate at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego in the US, observed the juvenile mantas while conducting research on manta population structure at Flower Garden Banks. “The juvenile life stage for oceanic mantas has been a bit of a black box for us, since we're so rarely able to observe them,” said Stewart, lead author of the study published in the journal Marine Biology. “Identifying this area as a nursery highlights its importance for conservation and management, but it also gives us the opportunity to focus on the juveniles and learn about them,” he said. “This discovery is a major advancement in our understanding of the species and the importance of different habitats throughout their lives,” he added. Known as the gentle giants of the sea, oceanic manta rays ( Mobula birostris) are large, planktoneating rays that live in the open ocean and can reach sizes of up to 7 metres in wingspan as adults. Oceanic mantas are typically found in subtropical waters around the world with aggregation sites commonly found far from coastal areas, making their populations hard to access and study.