Sustainable ecotourism could bring in more income than small-scale fishing. But you do so knowing that this will be the future for we fishermen.”Įdgardo Cruz, a local fisherman, says his attitude towards mantas caught in his nets has changed – he now makes sure he frees them. “We cut the net because we know it would be destroyed by such a large animal. “Not any more – now we use the knife, not to kill it but to free it so it swims away alive. “Before, if one got stuck in the net, we’d grab it, stick a knife in it, then tie it on to the boat and take it to the shore,” he says, his hand on Pollito’s tiller. Despite his efforts to land it, he was paid around 200 Peruvians soles (£47) for the meat, which is not highly prized. It was so heavy a crane was needed to lift it on to the shore. He once caught a giant manta ray weighing one-and-half tonnes, he says. His diesel-engined wooden craft, christened Pollito, chugs through the opalescent waters as he scans the horizon for signs of fish. They’re happy to mention it to their peers.”Įdgardo Cruz, 50, has been fishing these rich waters since he was 15. “Now if the manta ray gets entangled in their nets, fishermen start releasing them and report on it excitedly. Before, they didn’t even notice that they existed,” Forsberg says. “People here now get excited about giant manta rays. They have the largest brain of all fish species. Giant mantas pass the mirror self-recognition test developed by scientists as a way to determine whether a non-human animal has the ability to recognise itself. Manta rays can live for up to 40 years, but little is known about their growth and development. They typically only produce a single pup every five years or so. Fortunately, the popularity of the species with scuba divers and other tourists makes them worth more alive than dead. They are vulnerable to getting tangled in fishing nets and are sometimes purposefully targeted for their gills, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. The number of giant rays has declined by up to a third. They swim solo, but are known to socialise. Mantas are generally solitary creatures, but aggregate to feed and mate suggesting complex social interactions. Despite their size, giant mantas eat microscopic organisms, sometimes performing "barrel rolls" when feeding to maximise food intake. Most grow to a more modest 4-5 metres wide. Giant manta rays also have a noticeable lump at the base of their tail, which is a vestigial remnant of their spine.They can reach widths of 9m. As the name suggests, giant mantas are the largest of species of ray. Manta rays also usually have pale grey ‘chevron’ shapes on their backs – in giant mantas these form a ‘T’ shape, whereas in reef mantas they form a ‘Y’ shape and are often less defined. All manta rays have spots on their underbelly that can be used for individual identification, but in giant manta rays these are largely restricted to the belly with no spots under the wings, whereas reef manta rays can have them anywhere underneath (wings and belly). Giant manta rays may reach up to 7 m, whereas reef manta rays rarely exceed 4 m. While both species are predominantly black and diamond-shaped, and have cephalic lobes (appendages either side of their mouth that help funnel water when feeding), the giant manta ray is recognisable through its size and colouration. Only recently were giant and reef manta rays separated into different species based on genetic evidence.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |