![]() Schmahl, superintendent of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. "This is exciting news for the manta rays in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico," said George P. Stewart and colleagues describe the manta nursery in a new study, "Important juvenile manta ray habitat at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico," published June 15 in the journal Marine Biology. Recent genetic evidence indicates that oceanic mantas and a proposed third manta species ( Mobula cf. The researchers also compared the habitat use of mantas at the banks to established criteria for defining shark and ray nursery habitats and determined that the sanctuary is the world's first confirmed manta nursery ground. ![]() Using the photo IDs and observational data, Stewart and the marine sanctuary staff determined that about 95% of the mantas that visit Flower Garden Banks are juveniles, measuring an average of 2.25 meters (7.38 feet) in wingspan. Mantas have unique spot patterns on their underside that can be used to identify individuals, much like a human fingerprint. Working with marine sanctuary staff, Stewart and colleagues looked through 25 years of dive log and photo identification data collected by sanctuary research divers. After noticing several other small mantas in the area, he talked with the marine sanctuary staff to see if this was a regular occurrence. Stewart has spent the past seven years studying manta rays and encountered hundreds of adults in the wild, but his sighting of a juvenile at Flower Garden Banks in 2016 was a rare encounter for him. Baby mantas are virtually absent from nearly all manta populations around the world, so even less is known about the juvenile life stage. For this reason, major knowledge gaps remain in their basic biology, ecology, and life history. Oceanic mantas are typically found in subtropical and tropical waters around the world with aggregation sites commonly found far from coastal areas, making their populations hard to access and study. Known as the gentle giants of the sea, oceanic manta rays ( Mobula birostris) are large, plankton-eating rays that live in the open ocean and can reach sizes of up to 7 meters (23 feet) in wingspan as adults. ![]() This discovery is a major advancement in our understanding of the species and the importance of different habitats throughout their lives." "Identifying this area as a nursery highlights its importance for conservation and management, but it also gives us the opportunity to focus on the juveniles and learn about them. "The juvenile life stage for oceanic mantas has been a bit of a black box for us, since we're so rarely able to observe them," said Stewart, who also serves as executive director of the Manta Trust, a global manta conservation program. candidate at Scripps and lead author of the study, observed the juvenile mantas while conducting research on manta population structure at Flower Garden Banks, one of 15 federally designated underwater areas protected by the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. Located in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Texas at NOAA's Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, the juvenile manta ray habitat is the first of its kind to be described in a scientific study.
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