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| A particularly large manta measuring 12'+ measured against the humans in the background |
There are not enough superlatives that can describe the Manta rays we saw on our 3rd day on the Big Island. To be graced by these gentle giants is not just exciting, but truly an honor.
In Kona, Hawaii, resident Manta rays frequent nightly feedings and have come to associate divers' lights with plankton, and hence food. These rays (manta birostris) are relatives of sharks, and have been reported as growing up to 25' wide. But being filter feeders, they are completely harmless to us human beings. On our manta ray night dive, these behemoths came within inches of us, and actually hit one of the divers in the head so hard, he saw stars.
As we entered the water, we heard so much screaming from the snorkelers on the surface that we thought there must have been a frat party going on. As we got situated on the bottom, we could see why. I squealed out loud for my first 5 minutes underwater. Although the mantas come with fair regularity, it is not guaranteed that one will even see a manta ray on the nightly dives and usually manta rays number in the 5-6 range. That night we were treated to 21 manta visitations, which hadn't occurred in months. After more than an hour in the water, the mantas would not leave us alone. The mantas came right up to our swim ladder as we boarded the boat.
At the expense of sounding a little weird, being in the presence of these mantas made me feel like I was in the presence of good (versus evil). One other time I've felt this way while scuba diving was when a small pod of dolphins burst in on us scuba divers while in Cozumel, Mexico. These "devilfish" are truly angels.
I will never forget seeing these mantas so thick in the waters, that they were practically bumping into one other. I have one particular memory that I will never forget. At our safety stop on our twilight dive (before the night dive), we encountered a ginormous manta on its way to the feeding. I left the anchor line and swam belly to belly beneath this gorgeous creature before it sped off into the distance.
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| Mantas on our night dive |
Dive Details
Dive #203: Garden Eels Twilight Dive
Depth/Time/Temp: 65'/1:04/75 deg F
Sightings:
-At least 12 mantas swam by us in anticipation of the night dive.
-zebra eel
-garden eels
-got separated at the begining of the dive
-2 green eels under a ledge
-crown of thorns
-swam belly up underneath a manta
-swam into a thick school of grunts.
-cuttlefish
Dive #204: Manta Ray Night Dive - Old Airport Dive Site
Depth/Time/Temp: 55'/1:06/75 deg F
Sightings:
-eels hunting in the open
-shrimps
-mantas circling our boat at the safety stop
-manta swallows marks head vertically
-mantas hitting one another.
-mantas hitting the boat ladder
-mark says it was totally awesome
