Snorkeling with Mantas

[cos]

Clips of video I took in January 2013, when Alice and I went on a snorkel excursion to a spot near Kona, Hawaii, where giant manta rays congregate every night to feed. A bunch of boats and divers go out every night, and shine big lights into the water, which the mantas apparently really like, so they hang around the lit areas and are very easy to see.

Adult mantas range from about 15-20 feet in wingspan. They're huge, awesome, graceful creatures, slowly swooping around feeding on zooplankton.

Comments

[lakmiseiru.livejournal.com]

(fwiw: in my experience, the mantas - and other predatory creatures - love the lights because they attract the zookplankton, shrimp, small fish, etc - to the lit area. buffet!)

[hermitgeecko.livejournal.com]

That's amazing.

[kirin]

Super awesome!