ID'ing a Manta Ray

  Out on the kayak noticing a bunch of stuff drifting in the water Heidi commented she was surprised we didn't see more whale sharks or manta rays. Well she got half of her wish when a little bit later she noticed the wing tip of this 7ft manta barely breaking the surface. I grabbed my camera and immediately jumped in to try and snag a few manta ID shots for my buddy Ben.

 It was tough getting a good shot through all the plankton bloom. Usually our water is so clear, especially when you get a ways off shore but not today. Maybe the coral had started blooming as we are near the full moon. This would make sense as I followed this manta up and down the coral fingers about 50ft down. Every once in a while the manta would come up near the surface or do a beautiful barrel roll showing off its underside. It took me about half an hour to snag these shots of the underside but hopefully they are good enough to use for ID shots. Researchers can track individual mantas over their entire life and range just by using the distinct black markings on their undersides.
 Heidi snagged some snippets of the manta with my new goPro video camera as well.