Manta Rays are Back!

 I'm not sure how unusual it is to have a manta ray drought at the famous Kona manta ray night dive location off the Big Island in Hawaii. For three weeks we were skunked, the only sighting being a fleeting vision of one swimming just over the campfire and out of sight. I can remember only being skunked at this location one time in the past two years.  And that is coming here once a week every week from Nov-April.

However this week definitely ended the drought. It was practically raining mantas. I noticed for a few days that the plankton levels have definitely blossomed. Another good sign was actually seeing a large manta ray feeding at the surface as we pulled into our manta ray anchorage. Everyone on board got a good look as the large ray swam near the surface down the entire length of our ship. The plankton levels were much higher density than the previous weeks, so I wasn't surprised when we saw mantas hanging out at the camp fire when we first jumped in.

Unique markings used to ID manta rays

  Things got even better for us snorkeling at the surface as we drifted into the shallows. Here five manta rays were working the plankton bloom doing barrel roll after barrel roll just under the surfboards. By the end of the night we had lost count of how many mantas were out there swimming with us. But I did notice the plankton had become a virtual tornado in our light. Everyone was very excited and even the most experience snorkelers in the group said this was one of their top in water experiences ever. All in a days work at UnCruise.