Baby Giant Manta Rays Grow up Together in This Newly Discovered Nursery

By Jessica Boddy on 22 Jun 2018 at 12:30PM

Marine biologist Joshua Stewart was scuba diving in the Gulf of Mexico when he spotted a baby manta ray — an unexpected find, given that juveniles are extremely rare and seldom observed by humans.

After analysing other divers’ juvenile sightings, he and his colleagues determined a specific section of the Gulf to be a nursery for oceanic manta rays, according to their study published recently in Marine Biology.

“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,” Stewart, a graduate student at the University of California San Diego, said in a press release. The nursery could prove useful for better understanding baby manta rays, he said.

The nursery is located around 100 miles south of Texas in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, a 56-square-mile protected area in the Gulf of Mexico. It harbors giant manta rays in addition to corals, jellies, whales, sea turtles, and other animal species.

More:
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2018/06/baby-giant-manta-rays-grow-up-together-in-this-newly-discovered-nursery/