![]() Indonesia is ranked 2nd in the world for manta ray tourism, with an estimated value of USD $15 million per year. Manta ray protection within Indonesia came largely in response to the growth of the manta ray tourism industry. ![]() The data for this 5-year long study was obtained from citizen scientists and trained observers submitting ID photos to the global manta ray database, 1,085 reef manta rays were identified from 3,941 sightings that occurred between 2013 – 2018 based on their unique ventral coloration patterns. The research was supported by the Australian Postgraduate Award & Murdoch International Top Up (EG), Dive Operators Community of Komodo, Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Foundation FortUna, Mantahari Oceancare, Fish-Are-Friends, SeaMorgens, Arenui, R. Gede Hendrawan, Ande Kefi, Lars Bejder and Neil Loneragan,, PeerJ. Reference: “Residency, movement patterns, behavior and demographics of reef manta rays in Komodo National Park” by Elitza S. The study highlights that marine protected areas that are large enough to host important manta ray habitats are a beneficial tool for manta ray conservation. Limiting the number of tourism boats allowed at one time at all manta ray aggregation sites and making codes of conduct for diving and snorkeling with manta rays mandatory are proposed as ways to minimize the impact of tourism.ĭespite Indonesia’s history with intensive manta ray fisheries, Komodo National Park still retains large manta ray aggregations that with careful ongoing management and threat reduction will benefit regional manta ray populations. The authors of the study make additional recommendations for enhancing manta ray conservation within the Komodo National Park, which can also serve as guidelines for manta ray habitats elsewhere in the world. “I hope that this study will encourage tourism operators to understand the need for the regulations already imposed and increase compliance,” he adds. Ande Kefi, an employee of the Komodo National Park involved with this study. This means that the Komodo National Park should create measures to limit the disturbance at these sites,” said Mr. ![]() “This study shows that the places where tourists commonly observe manta rays are important for the animals to feed, clean, and mate. “This means that manta rays which prefer sites where fishing activities continue to occur or that are more popular with tourism will endure greater impacts” she adds. “I found it very interesting how some manta rays appear to prefer spending their time in some sites more than others, even when sites are 5 km (3 miles) apart, which are short distances for manta rays,” said Dr. The study’s results showed that some manta rays moved around the park and others as far as the Nusa Penida MPA, which lies more than 450 km (280 miles) to the west), but overall, manta rays showed individual preferences for specific sites within the Park. These models can predict the likelihood that manta rays are inhabiting or traveling in between specific sites. The photographs and accompanying time and location information is then used to construct sighting histories of individual manta rays, which can then be analyzed with statistical movement models. Although they are protected in international waters and by laws of certain countries, they travels often through unregulated waters and are still being fished all over the world.Komodo National Park manta cleaning. Overfishing has the real potential to wipe out large numbers of giant oceanic mantas due to the fact that they live so long and reproduce so little. Their size make them particularly susceptible to entanglement in fishing nets even when they are not voluntarily fished out. Their gills is still in high demand mostly by the traditional chinese medecine market. The Manta Trust and Marine Megafauna foundations are both working globally to research and protect the mobulae family and their habitats. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared manta rays as ’vulnerable’ in 2011. All of this combined make their reproduction quite slow! The mother will usually have two years elapse between pregnancies. Manta-mums usually carry only one pup, but 2 pups have already been recorded. ![]() They are born independent after a 12-13 months gestation period. Manta rays can live as long as 50 years and are ovoviviparous, which means that they start development in an egg and hatch within the mother's body.
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