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At Last, the Giant Mantas Have Arrived

Giant Mantas are admired by every one who has had the opportunity to witness these graceful creatures sailing gently on the ocean surface. And now, these giant animals are back, visiting our bay. However they are no doubt a headache for the captains of sailing vessels, who must navigate with extra caution not to collide with one. They are real yet harmless "monsters" of the sea.

Real But Harmless "Monsters" of the Sea
Commonly known as "Rays", these flat-bodied fish with large fins are among the largest in existence. While they may share little resemblance, Manta Rays are direct relatives of sharks, sharing the characteristic of having no actual bones, because their skeleton is made entirely of cartilage. This makes them extremely light and rugged, and they will not stop growing throughout their life. The largest Manta Ray on record measured just over 9 meters from tip to tip of their fins, weighing almost 1 ton and a half (3,000 pounds), but today the vast majority of Mantas are between 4 and 6 meters wide, as the oldest and largest increasingly die trapped in commercial fishing nets or are hit by boats on the surface.
Despite its large size, Mantas are inoffensive creatures able to impress anyone with their beauty and graceful way of swimming near the surface. While there is no evidence of human attacks, they are capable of tips tremendous blows with their enormous fins, so that scuba divers should think twice about trying to mount or "ride" on them.

A Sea of Dangers
The population of Mantas in the world has shrunk considerably due to man, being easily caught when they swim near the surface always in search of food: plankton. Unfortunately, the few studies that exist suggest that in Mexico (mainly in the Gulf of California) they are rapidly disappearing, as they also have only one or two cubs every 2 to 3 years after up to 14 months of gestation, beginning at 5 or 6 years old, so its future is not very promising.

And What of Those that Visit our Bay?
Despite its large size, Mantas annually migrate in search of more productive waters where their food is more plentiful. Thus, these huge fish disappear most of the year and are not observed in Banderas Bay for months. Although it is unknown where they go during the warmer months, we do know that they like to surf in colder waters, for they find more food. Thus they usually begin to be observed anytime from November on, although most are seen between the months of February and April.

This winter, due to the powerful climatic phenomenon known as El Niño, the waters of our bay have remained unseasonably warm, which has affected the behavior of whales, dolphins, birds, sea turtles and, of course, Mantas.
Although there is no scientific data to prove this, the Bay of Banderas seems to be a site of great importance for food and mating for this species, so their absence has been noted. However, nature is wise and our still beautiful bay is gradually returning to normal, hence since the month of March (almost 4 months late), Mantas have begun to return, showing us these spectacular leaps with their bodies completely "out of the water, with acrobatic twists that surprise anyone who sees them and causing them to often be mistaken for whales.
This has been a winter in which we have earned that they can stop visiting when they choose. Maybe it's a good time to raise awareness and show a little respect, since they have inhabited our planet since before our human race began.

At Last, the Giant Mantas Have Arrived

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