Makani Ray was first seen and photographed by passionate manta ray advocate Kerstin Windberg on August 8, 2019 in Kaun’oa Bay. He was a pup and only 3-4 feet across. He was shy and showed its underside only once. It took a few sightings to determine his gender.

Kerstin was excited to name a manta ray after her husband Daniel “Windy” Windberg and chose MAKANI as this translates from the Hawaiian language to “WIND”. We think it’s the perfect fit and hope that Daniel and Makani will one day have a chance to meet each other.