Mano The Manta Ray - Kaku’s Reef Blog – Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru

I count my lucky stars that I call the beautiful wilderness of Landaa “home”. But – like the rest of the natural world – it is under increasing threat. I decided to investigate some of the most pressing environmental concerns affecting the world today. Scroll down to discover what I learnt from my fellow Landaa inhabitants and the steps we can all take to secure the future of the planet for generations to come.

Resident Blogger
Landaa Giraavaru

I count my lucky stars that I call the beautiful wilderness of Landaa “home”. But – like the rest of the natural world – it is under increasing threat. I decided to investigate some of the most pressing environmental concerns affecting the world today. Scroll down to discover what I learnt from my fellow Landaa inhabitants and the steps we can all take to secure the future of the planet for generations to come.

Resident Blogger
Landaa Giraavaru

I was chilling at Blu Beach Club yesterday when a Manta Phone starting ringing next to me. The couple’s excitement was infectious – and I hadn’t joined a ‘Manta-on-Call’ group in a while – so I jumped in their beach bag to join the fun.

It felt thrilling to have the ocean breeze whistle through my shell as we sped off into the wilderness. “We’ve recorded sightings of over 4,700 individuals since 2006,” I overhead a man’s voice say to the onboard guests. “This makes the Maldives manta ray population the largest on record in the world.”

I recognised the voice as that of Dr. Guy Stevens, a marine biologist at Landaa years ago. Guy encountered his first manta ray in 2003 onboard Four Seasons Explorer. It inspired him to start the Maldivian Manta Ray Project at Landaa, the founding project of The Manta Trust – the global manta ray charity that he now runs. He’s no longer based here so he must have come back to visit Landaa’s Manta Trust team!

I was chilling at Blu Beach Club yesterday when a Manta Phone starting ringing next to me. The couple’s excitement was infectious – and I hadn’t joined a ‘Manta-on-Call’ group in a while – so I jumped in their beach bag to join the fun.

It felt thrilling to have the ocean breeze whistle through my shell as we sped off into the wilderness. “We’ve recorded sightings of over 4,700 individuals since 2006,” I overhead a man’s voice say to the onboard guests. “This makes the Maldives manta ray population the largest on record in the world.”

I recognised the voice as that of Dr. Guy Stevens, a marine biologist at Landaa years ago. Guy encountered his first manta ray in 2003 onboard Four Seasons Explorer. It inspired him to start the Maldivian Manta Ray Project at Landaa, the founding project of The Manta Trust – the global manta ray charity that he now runs. He’s no longer based here so he must have come back to visit Landaa’s Manta Trust team!

Splashes brought me back to the moment. The ‘Manta-on-Call’ guests had entered the water and I saw the unmistakable tip of manta wings as the graceful oceanic ballerinas pirouetted over plankton close to the surface to create the biggest possible mouthfuls to eat.

“Hey Kaku!” My old friend Mano the manta ray popped his head above the surface to greet me, before breaching and splash landing, creating quite a vibration. “Woo hoo! Guy’s here,” he shouted to his fellow mantas.

“Why all the excitement?” I asked. “Guy’s a celebrity in manta circles,” Mano called back. “He worked with all sorts of international partners to get us listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2013. We owe conservationists like him a lot!”

As Mano somersaulted away, I stowed myself back away in the couple’s beach bag, full of admiration at how one person’s commitment can make a difference to a species globally. The next time I question what impact one individual can have, I’ll be inspired to think again.

Splashes brought me back to the moment. The ‘Manta-on-Call’ guests had entered the water and I saw the unmistakable tip of manta wings as the graceful oceanic ballerinas pirouetted over plankton close to the surface to create the biggest possible mouthfuls to eat.

“Hey Kaku!” My old friend Mano the manta ray popped his head above the surface to greet me, before breaching and splash landing, creating quite a vibration. “Woo hoo! Guy’s here,” he shouted to his fellow mantas.

“Why all the excitement?” I asked. “Guy’s a celebrity in manta circles,” Mano called back. “He worked with all sorts of international partners to get us listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2013. We owe conservationists like him a lot!”

As Mano somersaulted away, I stowed myself back away in the couple’s beach bag, full of admiration at how one person’s commitment can make a difference to a species globally. The next time I question what impact one individual can have, I’ll be inspired to think again.