Giant oceanic manta ray migrations
Ocean wanderers that gather at cleaning stations and plankton-rich channels across the Indo-Pacific and eastern Pacific.
See giant oceanic manta ray dive sites · zoom in and select a glow to open that coast on the dive map
The giant oceanic manta ray year, in real records
Ocean wanderers that gather at cleaning stations and plankton-rich channels across the Indo-Pacific and eastern Pacific. The map above animates 2,104 recorded observations of Mobula birostris — CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records accessed through GBIF, binned by calendar month, peaking in October. Sightings are history, not a forecast: they show where people have actually seen this animal, which is strong planning context and never a guarantee.
Where the year peaks
The regions holding the most recorded giant oceanic manta ray sightings, and the months when each one runs hottest — computed from the same dataset the map animates.
- Galápagos & eastern PacificSep–Oct1,405 sightingsdive sites here
- Gulf of MexicoOctober154 sightingsdive sites here
- Baja & Pacific MexicoApril113 sightingsdive sites here
- US & Canada — Atlantic coastJul–Sep89 sightingsdive sites here
- Coral Triangle & Southeast AsiaFeb–Mar41 sightingsdive sites here