Nick Ray was first identified July 18, 2011 at Manta Village by James Wing and about 4 feet across.
First we thought that he was a female manta ray (no sign of claspers), but when we saw him again in January of 2012 we realized that we need to rename him.
He has been a regular at the dive site “Manta Heaven” and only a few times at “Manta Village”.
The original name sake for this manta ray was our dear friend Nicole Suzanne Schmaus from Switzerland. She succumbed to a rare form of cancer in February of 2011 and only 42 years old. She was engaged to Ray Dumas.
In many ways Nicole is still a big part of us and Nicole Ray or today Nick Ray will keep her spirit alive.
Nick Ray has been named after Nick Watson, son of Capt. Jeff Watson. Nick works as a captain and dive master along the Kona Coast and has become very good at identifying the mantas.
DESCRIPTION OF MARKINGS
He has a very distinct “V”on the left side of his pattern
IDENTIFICATION DATE
July 18, 2011
GENDER
Male
SIZE OF WINGSPAN
7 feet
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