I was too excited and just had to share the footage we got from our night time manta ray snorkel in Hawaii a couple of nights ago! We are still buzzing from it! These majestic creatures put on the most spectacular show for us from sunset onwards for about 40mins!!! Check out our video below and pop it in 4K quality if you screen allows!
This all took place in the town of Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. We all held onto handles attached to a foam surfboard that was kitted out with blue lights to light up the plankton, the mantas see their dinner and come in and backflip their mouths full. Their stomaches are the size of a quarter (about a 20cent piece) so they are always eating or should I say filtering plankton through their mouths! The mantas here can grow from 1-4metres which is about 3 to 12 feet (wing tip to wing tip) and can live from 50-100 years. There is a Manta called Lefty who has been seen since 1979!!
We weren't allowed to touch the manta rays because they have a protective slime layer over their bodies but that didn't mean they couldn't touch us! I was brushed upon about 3 times! Apparently they don't sleep and need to be in a constant state of motion to keep water flowing through and across their gills. These creatures are totally harmless to humans and if you get the chance you should swim with them! Although there are many similarities between stingrays and manta rays, mantas do not have a poisonous barb/any barb at all! Just a blunt end which looks as though it's been chopped off!!
Their predators are killer whales, sharks and humans but the ones we swam with don't tend to stray too far from the shore- so their only threat is humans, if you watch the video you will see one of the manta rays front fins doesn't move.. she was tangled up in fishing line/rope and it is now paralysed :( If you are in Kona and looking to do this trip let me know in the comments and I can point you in the right direction! The company we went through were AMAZING - maximum of 6 passengers making it an epic experience! Also big thanks to my man Daniel for holding his breath and capturing all the content as well as putting together this clip! Wish we could do it all again! Stay tuned for pictures to come, I couldn't wait any longer to share the video footage :P