As the life-changing experience of swimming with manta rays continues to attract visitors from around the world, it becomes increasingly important to address the challenges that the booming manta ray industry faces. While the experience can be awe-inspiring and educational, we must ensure that these encounters are conducted responsibly, prioritizing the safety and well-being of marine life, participants, and crew.
This article sheds light on tour operator practices that pose significant risks to both humans and manta rays.
Hull Lighting and its Dangers for Marine Animals
“Hull lighting” refers to lights attached to the hull below a boat’s waterline, often near immovable hardware such as rudders, ladders, and propellers. While this setup attracts marine life to the boat and creates an underwater spectacle, hull lighting poses severe hazards to marine animals, particularly manta rays.
These gentle giants rely heavily on plankton, their primary food source. Plankton is naturally drawn to light sources, and mantas now associate these lights with food.
Unfortunately, this attraction puts them at risk when boats with hull lighting are around. As mantas gather around the lights, they often collide with the boat’s parts, resulting in serious injuries.
The Dangers of Live Boating
When boats bring tourists to manta ray viewing sites (the spots in the ocean where mantas gather to feed), they need a safe way to drop their anchor without damaging coral reefs. Instead of dropping anchors directly onto these delicate areas, responsible tour operators use moorings that secure their boats without harming the seabed.
However, overcrowding is a serious issue as more people want to see manta rays. With only a few moorings available, some boat captains resort to “live boating.”
Live boating means cruising near crowded viewing areas with engines and propellers running. This increases the chance of manta rays getting hit by propellers, causing serious injuries.
Tragically, propeller strikes have caused fatal accidents involving manta rays and human crew members. This shows that companies urgently need to follow safer practices, prioritizing marine life’s and participants’ well-being.
Abandoning People in the Water: A Troubling Trend
In striving for convenience and profitability, some tour operators compromise the safety of their guests and staff. They drop off guests at manta ray viewing sites while the boat returns to shore to pick up or drop off more passengers. This leaves participants stranded, posing a severe risk in case of emergencies.
This not only endangers individuals’ lives but also undermines the reputation of the entire tour industry.
Recognizing the severity of this issue, the U.S. Coast Guard intervened in 2023 by condemning this act of abandonment and negligence. According to article 46 CFR 5.29, leaving passengers in the water is an offense with legal ramifications.
Safer Practices for Manta Ray Encounters
Both tourists and tour operators can help to make manta ray encounters safer.
As a visitor, you can support the preservation of marine life and prioritize your own safety by picking an activity provider who adheres to voluntary tour operator standards. If you’re unsure how to do this, find 5 questions to ask your manta activity provider on the Hawaii Ocean Watch website.
Tour operators can minimize risks by using moorings or responsible anchoring methods that keep boats safely away from crowded viewing areas, abstaining from using hull lighting, and leaving their guests behind at viewing sites.
However, these issues will not solve themselves, as not all activity providers adhere to the voluntary standards for manta tour operators. We can only push authorities to act swiftly and enact new regulations to protect manta rays and humans.
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