Reef manta ray migrations
The coastal manta — faithful to cleaning stations and feeding lagoons from the Maldives to Hawaiʻi, where individuals are known by name.
See reef manta ray dive sites · zoom in and select a glow to open that coast on the dive map
The reef manta ray year, in real records
The coastal manta — faithful to cleaning stations and feeding lagoons from the Maldives to Hawaiʻi, where individuals are known by name. The map above animates 7,773 recorded observations of Mobula alfredi — CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records accessed through GBIF, binned by calendar month, peaking in July. 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 reef manta ray sightings, and the months when each one runs hottest — computed from the same dataset the map animates.
- Eastern AustraliaJun–Sep5,695 sightingsdive sites here
- Western AustraliaMar–May1,764 sightingsdive sites here