This manta ray was seen
by divers at Himendhoo Thila in Ari Atoll on 24th February 2005, unfortunately
the manta was shy and would not allow the dive guide to get close enough to
try and cut it free. The discarded fishing line is cutting like cheese wire
into the skin of this unfortunate manta every time it beats its pectoral fins.
Manta rays can't swim backwards and need to continuously swim in order to
move fresh water over their gills. So this manta must keep moving forward
if it is to stay alive, each beat of its powerful wing-like pectoral fins
cutting the line deeper into its flesh and bringing it only closer to death.
Unfortunately there is little chance of this manta surviving unless it can
receive help from divers. Every year countless numbers of manta rays, dolphins,
whales, sharks, sea turtles, seabirds, sealions and other marine animals become
entangled and die in discarded fishing line and nets in the world's oceans.
Thankfully images like
these are fairly uncommon in the Maldives as fishing with nets is banned and
large international commercial fishing fleets are not allowed to enter Maldivian
waters. However, discarded and broken fishing gear can float around the oceans
for years, ghost fishing on its way until it's swept or dragged towards land.
It's also possible that this manta was an open ocean traveller, which became
entangled out at sea and came to the Maldives in search of a cleaning station
or through sheer exhaustion.
Interestingly, although
this particular manta did not allow the divers to approach closely, there
are dozens of accounts where entangled mantas have specifically approached
divers and then waited, as if signalling for help; repeatedly returning to
the divers to have pieces of net or line pulled from their deep wounds, even
though this must cause them a lot of pain. While it's easy to interpret these
actions as very intelligent behaviour it may be just the manta rays recognising
divers as big cleaners due to our frequent associations with these animals
at cleaning stations. However, manta rays have one of the largest brains of
all elasmobranchs and often show more than just a passing interest in divers.
Until we learn much more about these amazing animals only the mantas know
what they are thinking.
This entangled
juvenile manta (right) was encountered in the Red Sea, the divers managed
to cut away all of the fishing line but its right cephalic fin is badly damaged.
If freed though manta rays have an amazing ability to heal and can recover
from even the most severe of injuries.
Fishing
lines and nets kill countless numbers of marine animals every year in the
world's oceans!
Drowned
Albatross caught on fishing line
Entangled
Sealion
This Hector's
Dolphin is caught in a monofilament gill net
Green
Sea Turtle
This mobula
ray was not so lucky, dying from a lack of oxygen in this drift net.
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This
particular manta (left) was encountered on a dive near the Burma
Banks in Myanmar, as you can see it's right cephalic fin has been
badly damaged by the fishing net which entangles it's body. The
diver who took these images was approached by the manta which hovered
close by in a gesture which could only be interpreted by the divers
as a request for help. Obligingly, the divers repeatedly tried to
cut and pull the net free from the manta. Despite the obvious pain
this inflicted to the manta it continued to return to the divers
until they had managed to remove most of the net. Unfortunately
the divers were running out of air and were dangerously into decompression
time, they had to leave the manta with some net still remaining
entangled around its body. It's fate, unknown!
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