0_Wizard
I swam with manta rays once
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Manta ray
Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus "Manta". The larger species, "M. birostris", reaches in width while the smaller, "M. alfredi", reaches . Both have triangular pectoral fins, horn-shaped cephalic fins and large, forward-facing mouths. They are classified among the Myliobatiformes (stingrays and relatives) and are placed in the family Myliobatidae (eagle rays). Mantas are found in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical waters. Both species are pelagic; "M. birostris" migrates across open oceans, singly or in groups, while "M. alfredi" tends to be resident and coastal. They are filter feeders and eat large quantities of zooplankton, which they swallow with their open mouths as they swim.
Manta ray night dive
A manta ray night dive is a scuba diving excursion to view manta rays. Depending on the amount of microscopic plankton present, the number of manta rays will vary. Some days no manta rays are seen while on days with high plankton levels upwards of a dozen may be present. While diving, scuba divers shine lights up while snorkelers shine them down creating a column of light which attracts millions of minuscule plankton, which in turn attracts the manta rays. A popular site is just off the coast of Hawaii Island called Garden Eel Cove, as well as the Kona Surf Hotel. Located just off the coast of Keahole Point (near the Kona International Airport), it attracts scuba divers for the abundance of manta rays.
List of threatened rays
Threatened rays are those vulnerable to endangerment (extinction) in the near future. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the world’s oldest global environmental organization. It evaluates threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories, depending on the degree to which they are threatened:  The term "threatened" strictly refers to these three categories (critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable), while "vulnerable" is used to refer to the least at risk of these categories. The terms can be used somewhat interchangeably, as all "vulnerable" species are threatened, all "endangered" species are vulnerable and threatened, and all "critically endangered" species are endangered, vulnerable and threatened.
Reef manta ray
The reef manta ray ("Manta alfredi") is a species of ray in the family Mobulidae, one of the largest rays in the world. Among generally recognized species, it is the second-largest species of ray, only surpassed by the giant oceanic manta ray (a currently unrecognized species from the Caribbean region also appears to be larger than the reef manta ray). The species was described in 1868 by Gerard Krefft, the director of the Australian Museum. He named it "M. alfredi" in honor of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the first member of the British royal family to visit Australia. Reef manta rays are typically in disc width, with a maximum size of about .
Black Manta
Black Manta (David Hyde) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in "Aquaman" #35 (September 1967) and is the archenemy of the superhero Aquaman. The character will make his cinematic debut in the James Wan's "Aquaman" film, portrayed by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The character debuted in "Aquaman" #35 (September 1967) and was created by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy. Black Manta had no definitive origin story until #6 of the 1993 "Aquaman" series. In this origin, the boy who would become Black Manta grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and loved to play by Chesapeake Bay.
Manta Trust
The Manta Trust is a UK-based charity that was formed in 2011 to co-ordinate global research and conservation efforts for manta rays, their close relatives and their habitat. As charismatic megafauna, manta rays act as a flagship species, helping to promote and engage the general public in the wider message of marine ecosystem conservation. Through this top down approach to conservation the manta ray becomes the catalyst for change, engaging and motivating the general public, governments and local communities alike. A UK Registered Charity, the Trust brings together a number of projects from around the globe, both new and long-standing, including the Republic of Maldives, Sri Lanka, Mexico and Indonesia.
Diving in the Maldives
The Maldives has become one of the world's best scuba diving destinations because of the white sand beaches, coral reefs, clear warm waters, numerous scuba diving sites and rich marine life. Most holiday resorts in the Maldives have a scuba diving facility and there are a number of liveaboard operators offering scuba diving cruise holidays that take guests to many dive sites all over the Maldives. Many scuba divers are keen to dive in the Maldives because of the presence of whale sharks, manta rays, eagle rays, reef sharks, hammerhead sharks and moray eels, as well as many smaller fish and coral species.
1_Apprentice
That would be such an incredible experience.. Where did it happen at?
0_Wizard
Kona in Hawaii! Manata Rays are large rays with triangular pectoral fins!
Both have triangular pectoral fins, horn-shaped cephalic fins and large, forward-facing mouths.
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Manta ray
chosen_topic_0_Manta_ray
Manta ray
Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus "Manta". The larger species, "M. birostris", reaches in width while the smaller, "M. alfredi", reaches . Both have triangular pectoral fins, horn-shaped cephalic fins and large, forward-facing mouths. They are classified among the Myliobatiformes (stingrays and relatives) and are placed in the family Myliobatidae (eagle rays). Mantas are found in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical waters. Both species are pelagic; "M. birostris" migrates across open oceans, singly or in groups, while "M. alfredi" tends to be resident and coastal. They are filter feeders and eat large quantities of zooplankton, which they swallow with their open mouths as they swim.
Bowmouth guitarfish
The bowmouth guitarfish ("Rhina ancylostoma"), also called the shark ray or mud skate, is a species of ray and a member of the family Rhinidae. Its evolutionary affinities are not fully resolved, though it may be related to true guitarfishes and skates. This rare species occurs widely in the tropical coastal waters of the western Indo-Pacific, at depths of up to . Highly distinctive in appearance, the bowmouth guitarfish has a wide and thick body with a rounded snout and large shark-like dorsal and tail fins. Its mouth forms a W-shaped undulating line, and there are multiple thorny ridges over its head and back.
Fish fin
Fins are usually the most distinctive anatomical features of a fish. They are composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body with skin covering them and joining them together, either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as seen in sharks. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the spine and are supported only by muscles. Their principal function is to help the fish swim. Fins located in different places on the fish serve different purposes such as moving forward, turning, keeping an upright position or stopping. Most fish use fins when swimming, flying fish use pectoral fins for gliding, and frogfish use them for crawling.
Fish locomotion
Fish locomotion is the variety of types of animal locomotion used by fish, principally by swimming. This however is achieved in different groups of fish by a variety of mechanisms of propulsion in water, most often by wavelike movements of the fish's body and tail, and in various specialised fish by movements of the fins. The major forms of locomotion in fish are anguilliform, in which a wave passes evenly along a long slender body; sub-carangiform, in which the wave increases quickly in amplitude towards the tail; carangiform, in which the wave is concentrated near the tail, which oscillates rapidly; thunniform, rapid swimming with a large powerful crescent-shaped tail; and ostraciiform, with almost no oscillation except of the tail fin.
Bluefin trevally
The bluefin trevally, "Caranx melampygus" (also known as the bluefin jack, bluefin kingfish, bluefinned crevalle, blue ulua, omilu and spotted trevally), is a species of large, widely distributed marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The bluefin trevally is distributed throughout the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, ranging from Eastern Africa in the west to Central America in the east, including Japan in the north and Australia in the south. The species grows to a maximum known length of 117 cm and a weight of 43.5 kg, however is rare above 80 cm. Bluefin trevally are easily recognised by their electric blue fins, tapered snout and numerous blue and black spots on their sides.
Spinetail mobula
Mobula japanica, commonly known as the spinetail devil ray, spinetail mobula ray or japanese mobula ray, is a species of pelagic marine fish which belongs to the family Myliobatidae. It is found throughout the tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific and eastern Atlantic Ocean. The spinetail mobula ray is a large ray which can grow up to a maximal width of 3.1 m (average width 2.3 m). Like most rays, it is dorsoventrally flattened and has relatively large triangular pectoral fins on either side of the main body disc. At the front, it has a pair of cephalic fins which are forward extensions of the pectoral fins.
Reef manta ray
The reef manta ray ("Manta alfredi") is a species of ray in the family Mobulidae, one of the largest rays in the world. Among generally recognized species, it is the second-largest species of ray, only surpassed by the giant oceanic manta ray (a currently unrecognized species from the Caribbean region also appears to be larger than the reef manta ray). The species was described in 1868 by Gerard Krefft, the director of the Australian Museum. He named it "M. alfredi" in honor of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the first member of the British royal family to visit Australia. Reef manta rays are typically in disc width, with a maximum size of about .
1_Apprentice
That's super cool, I've always wanted to try it. Seeing as you got to do it in Hawaii makes it all the cooler! Manta Rays are very fascinating.  
0_Wizard
Yea it was a one of a time experience! Mantas are found in warm temperate waters as well as tropical
Mantas are found in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical waters.
chosen_Manta_ray_0
Manta ray
chosen_topic_0_Manta_ray
Manta ray
Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus "Manta". The larger species, "M. birostris", reaches in width while the smaller, "M. alfredi", reaches . Both have triangular pectoral fins, horn-shaped cephalic fins and large, forward-facing mouths. They are classified among the Myliobatiformes (stingrays and relatives) and are placed in the family Myliobatidae (eagle rays). Mantas are found in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical waters. Both species are pelagic; "M. birostris" migrates across open oceans, singly or in groups, while "M. alfredi" tends to be resident and coastal. They are filter feeders and eat large quantities of zooplankton, which they swallow with their open mouths as they swim.
List of ecoregions in North America (CEC)
This list of ecoregions of North America provides an overview of North American ecoregions designated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in its North American Environmental Atlas. It should not be confused with Wikipedia articles based on the classification system developed by the World Wildlife Fund, such as List of ecoregions (WWF) and Lists of ecoregions by country. The commission was established in 1994 by the member states of Canada, Mexico, and the United States to address regional environmental concerns under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), the environmental side accord to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Lithuania men's national basketball team
The Lithuania men's national basketball team (Lithuanian: "Lietuvos nacionalinė vyrų krepšinio rinktinė") participates in FIBA's competitions. Despite Lithuania's small size, with a population of just almost 2.9 million, the country's devotion to basketball has made them a traditional force of the sport in Europe. The Lithuanian team won the last EuroBasket tournaments prior to World War II, in 1937 and 1939. The 1939 team was led by Frank Lubin, who helped popularize basketball in the country and was called the "grandfather of Lithuanian basketball". Following the country's annexation by the Soviet Union during the war, Lithuanian players frequently formed the core of the Soviet national team.
Yea, Victoria
Yea ( ) is a town in Victoria, Australia north-east of Melbourne at the junction of the Goulburn Valley Highway and the Melba Highway, in the Shire of Murrindindi local government area. In an area originally inhabited by the Taungurong people, it was first visited by Europeans of the Hume and Hovell expedition in 1824, and within 15 years most of the land in the area had been taken up by graziers. Surveyed in 1855, the township grew as a service centre for grazing, gold-mining and timber-getting in the area. The town has had a fairly stable population (around 1,100) since 1900, though it now has a relatively old population.
Coastal fish
Coastal fish, also called inshore fish or neritic fish, inhabit the sea between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf. Since the continental shelf is usually less than 200 metres deep, it follows that pelagic coastal fish are generally epipelagic fish, inhabiting the sunlit epipelagic zone. Coastal fish can be contrasted with "oceanic fish" or "offshore fish", which inhabit the deep seas beyond the continental shelves. Coastal fish are the most abundant in the world. They can be found in tidal pools, fjords and estuaries, near sandy shores and rocky coastlines, around coral reefs and on or above the continental shelf.
Houtman Abrolhos
The Houtman Abrolhos (often informally called the Abrolhos Islands) is a chain of 122 islands, and associated coral reefs, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia. Nominally located at , it lies about eighty kilometres (50 mi) west of Geraldton, Western Australia. It is the southernmost true coral reef in the Indian Ocean, and one of the highest latitude reef systems in the world. It is one of the world's most important seabird breeding sites, and is the centre of Western Australia's largest single-species fishery, the western rock lobster fishery. It has a small seasonal population of fishermen, and a limited number of tourists are permitted for day trips, but most of the land area is off limits as conservation habitat.
Marlin fishing
Marlin fishing (also called billfishing) is considered by some game fishermen to be a pinnacle of offshore game fishing, due to the size and power of the four marlin species and their relative rareness. Fishing for marlin captured the imagination of some sport fishermen in the 1930s, when well-known angler/authors Zane Grey, who fished for black, striped, and blue marlin in the Pacific, and Ernest Hemingway, who fished the Florida Keys, Bahamas and Cuba for Atlantic blue marlin and white marlin, wrote extensively about their pursuit and enthused about the sporting qualities of their quarry. These days a lot of resources are committed to the construction of private and charter billfishing boats to participate in the billfishing tournament circuit.
1_Apprentice
I would love to be able to experience it myself someday.. Mantas are going extinct  aren't they?
0_Wizard
Sadly they are becoming more scarce. Mantas are filter feeders and eat lots and lots of zooplankton
They are filter feeders and eat large quantities of zooplankton, which they swallow with their open mouths as they swim.
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Manta ray
chosen_topic_0_Manta_ray
Manta ray
Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus "Manta". The larger species, "M. birostris", reaches in width while the smaller, "M. alfredi", reaches . Both have triangular pectoral fins, horn-shaped cephalic fins and large, forward-facing mouths. They are classified among the Myliobatiformes (stingrays and relatives) and are placed in the family Myliobatidae (eagle rays). Mantas are found in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical waters. Both species are pelagic; "M. birostris" migrates across open oceans, singly or in groups, while "M. alfredi" tends to be resident and coastal. They are filter feeders and eat large quantities of zooplankton, which they swallow with their open mouths as they swim.
Filter feeder
Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feeding are clams, krill, sponges, baleen whales, and many fish (including some sharks). Some birds, such as flamingos and certain species of duck, are also filter feeders. Filter feeders can play an important role in clarifying water, and are therefore considered ecosystem engineers. Most forage fish are filter feeders. For example, the Atlantic menhaden, a type of herring, lives on plankton caught in midwater.
Forage fish
Forage fish, also called prey fish or bait fish, are small pelagic fish which are preyed on by larger predators for food. Predators include other larger fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Typical ocean forage fish feed near the base of the food chain on plankton, often by filter feeding. They include particularly fishes of the family Clupeidae (herrings, sardines, shad, hilsa, menhaden, anchovies and sprats), but also other small fish, including halfbeaks, silversides, smelt such as capelin, and the goldband fusiliers pictured on the right. Forage fish compensate for their small size by forming schools.
Planktivore
A planktivore is an aquatic organism that feeds on planktonic food, including zooplankton and phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are usually photosynthetic one-celled plant organisms. These organisms are usually found near the surface of the water due to their need for light energy for their photosynthetic processes. Phytoplankton provide most of the oxygen that is in the water and provide a large amount of food for other organisms in the water column. Zooplankton, in contrast, are heterotrophic plankton, animals which ingest nutrients rather than producing it via chemical reactions. Some taxa are planktonic for only part of their life cycle.
Ecology of the San Francisco Estuary
The San Francisco Estuary together with the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta represents a highly altered ecosystem. The region has been heavily re-engineered to accommodate the needs of water delivery, shipping, agriculture, and most recently, suburban development. These needs have wrought direct changes in the movement of water and the nature of the landscape, and indirect changes from the introduction of non-native species. New species have altered the architecture of the food web as surely as levees have altered the landscape of islands and channels that form the complex system known as the Delta.
Pelagic fish
Pelagic fish live in the pelagic zone of ocean or lake waters – being neither close to the bottom nor near the shore – in contrast with demersal fish, which do live on or near the bottom, and reef fish, which are associated with coral reefs. The marine pelagic environment is the largest aquatic habitat on Earth, occupying 1,370 million cubic kilometres (330 million cubic miles), and is the habitat for 11% of known fish species. The oceans have a mean depth of 4000 metres. About 98% of the total water volume is below , and 75% is below . Marine pelagic fish can be divided into pelagic coastal fish and oceanic pelagic fish.
Coastal fish
Coastal fish, also called inshore fish or neritic fish, inhabit the sea between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf. Since the continental shelf is usually less than 200 metres deep, it follows that pelagic coastal fish are generally epipelagic fish, inhabiting the sunlit epipelagic zone. Coastal fish can be contrasted with "oceanic fish" or "offshore fish", which inhabit the deep seas beyond the continental shelves. Coastal fish are the most abundant in the world. They can be found in tidal pools, fjords and estuaries, near sandy shores and rocky coastlines, around coral reefs and on or above the continental shelf.
1_Apprentice
It's sad to see such a beautiful creature slowly dying off.. They really are so magnificent. Hopefully we can come together and save the Mantas.