Citizen Scientists and Manta Lovers: Call for Manta Photo IDs from the BHS
Administrator’s note: We are proud to be a long-time partner of Elasmobranch Institute Indonesia (EI), whose mission is to advance the understanding, conservation, and sustainable management of elasmobranchs throughout Indonesia. And they need your help…in order to help the BHS’s mantas!
EI is currently updating the natural history and population status of both manta ray species in Raja Ampat and the broader BHS, following their 2020 natural history paper, “Natural History of Manta Rays in the BHS…”, (which mainly focuses on reef mantas). This time, the aim is to include oceanic mantas as well, and provide updates on reef manta observation from the past five years.
In addition, they are planning a further analysis estimating population changes for both species, similar to their 2022 publication, “Population estimates…Revel Raja’s Reef Mantas are Thriving”, which only used data from 2009 to 2019). For the upcoming paper, EI intends to use the latest database to measure whether the population continues to increase or remains stable by using mark-capture methods. The new study will include oceanic mantas for the first time.
To support this work, we would be very grateful if photographers could help by submitting ALL their manta photos, of both Oceanic and Reef mantas, whether old or new. This will greatly strengthen EI’s analyses and the long-term protection of the BHS’s manta rays...
Note: for an image to be useful it must show the manta’s belly. Each manta’s belly markings are distinct, like a fingerprint. Images must have been taken in the Bird’s Head Seascape (Raja Ampat, Cenderawasih Bay, Fak Fak/Kaimana or Triton Bay). Include date and location information. See the EI Submission Platform for directions.
You can easily submit photos various ways:
Additionally you can submit via the BHS website’s Manta ID portal.
You can also explore EI’s existing photo ID databases:
- Reef manta ray ID database: https://www.elasmoinstitute.id/species-exploration/reef-manta-ray
- Oceanic manta ray database: https://www.elasmoinstitute.id/species-exploration/oceanic-manta-ray
