![]() Oceanic mantas can find large quantities of krill and other zooplankton in this part of the eastern Pacific, with a handful of the mantas also wandering out as far as Galapagos. Stewart said that feeding conditions were particularly favourable for a large, healthy manta population around the border of southern Ecuador and Peru, where cold, nutrient-rich water upwells to the surface. In this area, we’ve estimated that the population is more than 22,000 mantas, which is unprecedented.” Oceanic mantas find plentiful food in the upwellings off Ecuador and Peru (OSU) “In other regions, we typically have population estimates of 1,000 to 2,000 animals, which makes this species very vulnerable. “It’s clear that something different is happening here,” said Joshua Stewart, an assistant professor who heads the institute and is a co-author of the study. ![]() The just-published Proyecto Mantas Ecuador study was led over 14 years by Fundación Megafauna Marina del Ecuador in collaboration with the Manta Trust, the Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF) and the Ocean Ecology Lab at Oregon State University (OSU)’s Marine Mammal Institute. Populations are typically small and vulnerable to human impacts, but the Ecuador population has been pronounced not only massive but potentially healthy. Mobula birostris, also known as the giant manta, is the largest type of ray in the world, with wingspans that can reach more than 6m.
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