One of the main reasons we wanted to come to the Astrolabe Reef was to see the manta rays. We had heard that there is a “cleaning station” and a good area where they feed near Vurolevu island. This is a mere 1.5nm from Yabu where we are anchored.
What is a “cleaning station”? A Manta Ray Cleaning Station is a location where fish, sharks, and mantas gather to get a regular hygiene check by parasitic copepods and a variety of small cleaner wrasse. Mantas spend some hours of the day here to get their gills, and skin cleaned.
Vurolevu Island and the Manta Rays
The next morning we head to Vurolevu island with the hopes of finding a few mantas. As we approach the northern tip and slow the dinghy down, we immediately spot a large manta in the water. Sweet. In I go!
There is a nice current here with the water flow delivering delicious plankton into the mouths of these gentle giants. I enjoy the alone time with 2 medium sized mantas (wing span of about 2-2.5 meters).
Within 15 minutes I am joined by 3 other tourists and decide to head to where Matt is which is about 300 yards from me. SCORE! He found the cleaning station. Check out all the little fish having a field day with these mantas! They swim around, under, and inside the mantas. Yes, they swim inside their mouth and come out their gills! Silly or brave, not sure which?
Manta Rays will jump out of the water to rid themselves of parasites (if they are not near a cleaning station). They also jump out of the water when they want to impress a lady and or to simply play.
A Cleaning Station
There was no current over where we were swimming, so we could literally just hang out and admire these beauties! Even though these animals are ginormous, they are not dangerous. Some of the manta rays that we saw here had a wing span of 4.5-5 meters! We are talking really, really huge!
But, mantas are harmless and can’t hurt swimmers. We have found them to be very curious creatures and will often swim up next to and below you if you stay calm and still enough. They really are delicate animals with no aggressive behaviors and are known to not be predatory in nature.
What do manta rays eat?
Mantas are filter feeders feeding on microscopic plankton near the surface of the water. They glide back and forth high current areas gathering plankton. A manta ray eats 19,200,000 pieces of plankton every week – that’s a lot of plankton!
Did you know that the closest relative to a manta ray is a shark? Unlike sharks, mantas don’t have teeth. They sieve plankton out of the water using a row of tiny plates in their mouth, which they funnel in as they swim.
One manta came so close to me that I actually saw him looking at me – honestly, he was checking me out!
I wanted to show you how very large these creatures were, but Matt was so far away that it is hard to get a perspective. And, he happened to go below with a juvenile, not a full size manta.
Hurt Mantas
The natural predators for manta rays are sharks and whales. Despite their large size and fast speeds, they do get hurt.
We saw several mantas with broken wings and bites out of their tail area. Their wings naturally flow seamlessly to a fine point, but two of the mantas had their wing tips bent down. It did not seem to slow them down. Another two mantas had semi circle bites out of their left tail area.
Did you know?
- Manta rays have the largest brain to size ratio of any cold-blooded fish?
- They have huge brains – the biggest of any fish!
- Believed to be as smart and highly cognitive as dolphins, primates, and elephants.
- Studies have found that their brains are especially developed for learning, problem solving and communicating.
- Some scientist believe that mantas can recognize their reflection, a sign of self-awareness.
The events from this blog occurred in early September 2022. Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events. We visit many island near the Astrolabe reef in our last blog post.
