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By Rebecca Pilkington-Vincett
A feeding station popular with manta rays is not far from the Misool Eco Resort and Conservation Center in Raja Ampat, eastern Indonesia.
RAJA AMPAT, Indonesia —They’ve been described by one scientist as “pandas of the ocean.”
“They’re such an iconic species, beloved by divers,” said Andrea Marshall, director of the Marine Megafauna Foundation, who came up with the description during an interview with NBC News. “They’re just amazing.”
Unlikely as it might seem, the panda and the manta ray have a lot in common.
Just as scientists still haven’t been able to confirm the number of pandas in the wild, they also have no idea how many manta rays exist.
“Globally we don’t know how many manta rays there are,” said Guy Stevens, director of the U.K.-based Manta Trust, whose research is largely based around manta populations in the Maldives.
But -- again, like the panda -- scientists think it’s a small population.
“If they’re lucky, (manta rays) have two pups (over several years). That’s a very low reproductive rate, especially compared to your average fish,” said Dr. Heidi Dewar, a biologist at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, part of NOAA.
Anecdotal evidence suggests mantas are under threat, and China may be a major reason for it.
Manta rays are vulnerable on two fronts: as bycatch — getting caught in industrial fishing nets targeting different types of tuna — and, increasingly, because of traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM.
Manta rays are abundant in the waters around Raja Ampat, eastern Indonesia.
Manta rays are harvested for their gill rakers, which allow the fish to filter food from water. Some Chinese believe they have healing properties or are good at cleaning out toxins. One Chinese-language website claims gill rakers enhance the immune system, promote blood circulation and aid in the treatment of cancer, skin disease and infertility.
“It’s just cartilage,” said Dewar, echoing skepticism expressed by many scientists.
Medicinal fad?
Conservationists say manta rays aren’t even considered “traditional” medicine and argue no reference to the animal can be found in TCM books dating back a century. But with rising incomes that enable Chinese consumers to readily adopt medicinal fads, the impact on manta rays has accelerated over the past 10 to 15 years.
“A lot of it is completely unrecorded,” said Stevens, who worked on a project founded by Shark Savers and WildAid to document the scope of gill-raker harvesting.
Understanding the beauty and diversity of Raja Ampat, aka 'Underwater Eden'
Researchers looked at the location, value and species involved. “It does seem the majority of all of those gills that are being traded are ending up in China,” Stevens said.
The conclusion, published in a report called Manta Ray of Hope, found that roughly 3,400 manta rays and 94,000 mobulas (related to the manta ray family) are caught each year, but the numbers reflect only reported catches. “Unreported and subsistence fisheries will mean true landings are much higher,” the report said.
On patrol with a shark ranger in Indonesia's marine treasure trove
Visits to random TCM shops in Beijing and Shanghai turned up no gill rakers. In fact, a veteran pharmacist at Tongrentang, a long-established purveyor of traditional Chinese and herbal medicines, said she had never heard of manta rays being used this way.
But the Manta Ray of Hope report estimates a mature ocean manta could yield up to 15 pounds of dried gills that can bring in as much as $230 a pound in a market in China.
Australia moves to ban fishing trawler with 900-foot-long net
Marshall said she has noticed an uptick in manta fishing. “I’ve been (in Mozambique) in the last decade … and we’ve seen an 87 percent decline in the population because of the fishing.”
Unlike many shippers, Chinese merchants who transport cheap products from the mainland for export to Africa “want to fill [their unloaded cargo vessels] with resources wherever they go. In Africa, they fill it up with wood, fish or shark’s fin,” she said. “They’ll go out to the local fisheries along the coastline and scout for these products.”
The scientist has spoken to members of local communities, who say the Chinese offer “new nets, new lines, new hooks. (The Chinese traders) say to them, ‘If you get the sharks or the mantas or the turtles, you get all the meat. You can keep all the meat. You just sell us the things you don’t normally eat.'”
Protecting a ‘threatened’ species
Mantas were listed last year as “threatened” under the international Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has classified the manta ray as “vulnerable” to extinction.
PhotoBlog: Raja Ampat archipelago: The world's last paradise
Chinese scientists have also weighed in.
“In the last two years, we have conducted evaluations of the manta ray and submitted a recommendation to the government to list it as a protected species,” said Professor Wang Yanmin from Shandong University’s Marine College.
“There is no regulation for protecting the manta ray so sales of mantas are not illegal,” said Feng Yongfeng, founder of Green Beagle, a group that promotes environmental protection.
Groups like Manta Trust are focusing on getting manta rays listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). But scientists have their work cut out for them.
“It’s very difficult to get listed on CITES. They ask for a lot of detail that is difficult to pin down,” said Marshall. “Maybe in the terrestrial world, biologists can provide those kinds of details. When you’re talking about the megafauna [or large marine species] world, it’s very difficult.”
Marshall – who discovered a second type of manta ray in 2008 and is in the process of identifying a third -- acknowledges little is known about them.
AFP - Getty Images file
A huge manta ray weighing more than 2,200 pounds and measuring nearly 9 yards in length was caught off the eastern coast of China this past September.
Manta births a mystery
Vexing questions include the manta’s life span, details of their reproductive ecology and migratory patterns.
“I could wrap my life up in 20 minutes if I could talk to them,” she joked. “It has been driving me insane for the last ten years because I haven’t been able to figure out where they give birth. It’s 2012 and nobody has ever seen a manta give birth in the wild.”
And research is painstaking. For one, concentrations of the animal tend to be around far-flung islands. Stevens of Manta Trust cited the costs of tracking mantas and the difficulty in locating and knowing how to study them.
With technological improvements, however, scientists are gaining some ground. Satellite tags are one way to help the research. “What do they do when we can’t observe them? I’d love to follow an animal to find out how they spend their time,” said Stevens. “The tagging gives you small glimpses of them.”
Two dive instructors at the Misool Eco Resort and Conservation Center in Raja Ampat have uncovered a revenue stream to offset research costs: tourism.
“One manta ray can raise $1 million (U.S. dollars) in tourism income over its lifetime,” said Rebecca Pilkington-Vincett, citing a figure contained in the Manta Ray of Hope report.
PhotoBlog: Raja Ampat archipelago: The world's last paradise
With the blessing of the resort, Pilkington-Vincett and Calvin Beale launched a research project off the surrounding reefs.
Last season, the duo raised $32,000 from donations by recreational divers who accompanied them on dives to gather DNA samples and tag the mantas.
With the money, they have bought three satellite tags and collected numerous DNA samples. They are sending off the data to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography for analysis by a graduate student.
With online databases such as the Manta Research Project, where some of Pilkington-Vincett and Beale’s data are logged, or the Manta Matcher, developed by Marshall and operating much “like the FBI fingerprint online database,” research on the manta ray has become rooted in a global exchange among scientists and amateurs alike.
Until its secrets are fully revealed, the manta’s mystique seems guaranteed.
“I think it’s fascinating,” said Dewar of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, “that there is such a large and amazing creature that has so many mysteries attached to it.”
Additional research by Le Li, Johanna Armstrong and Yanzhou Liu.
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Leave a Comment:
No man nor manta is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's and manta's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind a passenger on space ship earth.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
Blah Blah Blah
yada yada yada
Kill the mantas and all the other species. The sooner we destoy the earth's system, the sooner the human population will be reduced to an acceptable level. The earth is overpopulated by at least twice the number of humans it can support. The Amish really need to know this, but they don't have TVs or computers. Would someone get on a horse and go tell them?
And of course you happen to be part of the "acceptable" level right? Hypocrite.
The "acceptable" ones will be only those that survive in the competition for food and shelter. All we really need to do is right now stop over reproducing to a point that the population decreases.
Let me guess, your favorite tv show is "preppers?"
My guess also is you probably live in your mothers basement, or something like that
and dont have a clue as to anything in the real world, reality.
Newest Walmart/China cargo ships:
http://eartheasy.com/blog/2010/11/supersize-ships-being-built-to-feed-our-consumer-appetites/
Thanks for the link Denny...I have been boycotting Wal-Mart for the past 15 years and will continue to do so.
I believe the word "Astonishing" fits here.
Great link, Denny.
Boycott Walmart, and buy USA-Made whenever possible. Exceptions will exists, but this imbalance needs to be reversed. Even most USA Manufacturers have Chinese factory deals as well in order to compete/offset US Operations.
Sorry to be getting away from the article...
Peace
Merry Corporate Christmas, All...
Notsojingo.....
Dealing in impossible goals again? I think thats called a cop out. People are not going to boycott Walmart
because you say so. People are not going to stop buying overseas products because you say so.
Your diatribe against industry is moronic. If you really believe all that stop buying gas and electricity. SHow us the courage of your phony convictions.
Hello Robert V!
Back for more, are ya! Great. Where to start...
I am a Proud Father, own a 2006 Tundra(paid off), have just passed 51,000 miles, recycle, zero scape, pick up other's trash while SCUBA Diving or at the beach or just taking a walk, have an average monthly electric bill of $78.00/month, a5 yrs on my mortgage .work my ass off in the same field for 30 years, buy American Made as much as possible(I do not always buy US, but certainly do in most products), accept that World Trade exists but do no succumb to Jobs and Products which can and were made in This Country(USA, In Case You Are Not) cannot be made here at the discretion of purely irresponsible Profit Gouging and sequestering of those products in foreign accounts, that then claim to have a plan for America, and do not play with my pud as you appear to enjoy doing here on the interwebs. Not that that is not OK if its your best skill set. Being a
Boycott Walmart has actually worked, as they are now at least considering some changes due to that threat against their bottom lne. Especially at Black Friday time! Obviously you have poor reading comprehension skills, but that appears perfect for the sad little ragdoll set that is you.
Black Friday. Boycott Walmart. Support the workers. « Fred Klonsky
Oh wait. You are not really much in to learning. Sorry to waste
yourmy time with you. Have a nice ?Welcome to Ignored Troll List!Been boycotting walmart 12+ years, and know many others
I think I have been in Walmart 3 times in my life, once because Florida stole our Citrus and gave us certificates only redeemable there for yard stuff and plants.
Once I checked out the Food Section.
Once I was stuck working in Homewood, AL and had little choice but to get batteries.
The Target stores are pretty much the same.
None of them sell Manta Gills.
How can you "rush" into saving a species when you dont know anything about them or their numbers,
and base your actions on speculation and presumptuousness ? Science eh?
Thank you. There is so much bad science. Depressing, isn't it?
If you always waited until you know everything, you would never do anything.
Jock,
In this case, it appears to be a search for self edification on someone elses dime, and thats about it.
Science today is all about fame and wealth, not the search for truth and preservation as they want you to believe. Look at global warming. Why do the believers and researchers live at the ocean if its so dangerous and eminent? If you fear forest fires, why would you move into a forest?
Look at ROBERT V home page. Talk about doing nothing.
All the qualities of a troll.
"Science today is all about fame and wealth"
LOL. You're kidding, right? That's like saying the priesthood is about meeting women. Unbelievably ignorant.
Once again Chinese traditional medicine threatens a species with extinction.
Perhaps a shipment of carefully poisoned Rhino horn and Tiger parts, along with bear gall bladders to China wouls curb their appetites.
Noble effort, but if we humans didn't ^&!% up the planet already just to make our lives "easier", we wouldn't have to rush to save anything.
So... Basically three quarters of the story deifies the Chinese for supposedly destroying the Manta rays for homeopathic medicine. Despite making the assertion that people in China have never heard of their use for such. And then they add a photo of a manta ray caught in a fishing net that was clearly not the target fish of the net.
Couple of things to those posting the Chinese suck.
1) ALL NATIONS fish. And as a result, destroy countless of other species in the process. It should be noted that by definition, China would be the largest contributor to this problem because it has the largest human population. But it is by no means the only one doing this. Think about this the next time you order the Captains Combo at 99.
2) ALL NATIONALITIES practice homeopathic medicine. Many plants used in U.S. homeopathic medications are harvested from the wild for a profit. And many are becoming endangered as a result. So all natural products are just that. All natural. Does not mean someone farmed them with the idea of sustainability in mind, just means someone picked them fresh.
3) Bias towards other cultures serves no long term useful purpose. Hate the Chinese, or the Japanese, or whoever all you want. Still will not solve anything. And telling another culture that they are wrong for being themselves only means they are less likely to give a $hit about the manta rays, or anything else you hold dear.
So while I am sure this article served it's purpose of making someone else look bad so you can feel better about yourselves (Pats on the back for all you non Asians out there in nets-ville). I would hardly call it news. .
The facts of this article are woefully lacking. From not knowing anything about the mantas other than their gills weigh about 15 pounds, and they may be endangered (or may not be as no one seems to know one way or the other). Also they sometimes get caught in nets set for tuna (like every other fish swimming at similar depths). And there are Scientists studying them.
Awesome reporting. Not!
I hear that dead chinese are good for rubbing calluses off your feet
everyone of you is completely missing the point. unlike sharks, manta rays are completely harmless. swim with them of Hawaii, they do not attack people. swim with sharks of any kind and you are likely to come up missing members. but I do not approve of killing sharks so that you can have shark fin soup. nor do I approve of killing Mantas to harvest their gill skimmers. there is no scientific evidence that the skimmers are in any way medicinal. killing off a species to extinction is just stupid. only man would hunt a species to extinction, like he did to American "passenger pidgeons" in the 1800's. I do not like pidgeons of any type. they are like flying rats, carry all sorts of diseases, fungi and bacterias. but they do eat an enourmous amount of insects that are even more harmful than the birds. so why catch Mantas? it is simply another case of man's short sightedness and utter stupidity.
Let the Chinese buy viagra, no animals get hurt. Secondly, how about irradicating the chinese, animals would have a better chance at living, like rhino for their rhino horns etc. etc. etc. ( as if rhino horn can cure your ED, give me a break.
Come on, people, we are fighting a losing battle here! For decades people the world over have been trying to stop stupid, superstitious, backwoods nations from decimating endangered species, sadly, to no avail! These poachers and killers refuse to stop killing every creature around so that they can sell bits and pieces of them for a few bucks! Why? Because there is ALWAYS some rich, spoiled, stupid jerk willing to buy!
The ONLY way to stop it is to go after the people that PURCHASE the products to sell to the ignoramuses that THINK these parts are, somehow, good for them! The majority of these people are Asian, the bulk of illegally gotten animals parts go over to Japan, China, Taiwan, etc.. The fact is many of these people are educated yet insist on believing their age-old traditional medicines from these endangered species are accurate EVEN when science has proven beyond doubt these animals part do NOT hold the benefits they claim!
We have our own share of stupid people right here in America who buy illegal animals products because, they too, are idiots, believing that certain parts (like bear gall bladders) can cure whatever ails them! These are the same folk, who not many years ago, would buy 'medicinal potions' from scammers called 'Snake Oil Salesmen'! Though, I freely admit most of them are just simple uneducated fools! Still, you'd think they'd know better by now!
Not enough people care, is the main problem.. People shake their heads in sadness as another species goes extinct and shrug their shoulders, saying 'what could I have done?' Well, in reality you could have done a whole hell of a lot, aside from donating to well-established organizations like the Sierra Club, Green Peace and (my favorite) the World Wildlife Fund, you could take a few minutes to write a protest letter to your Congress person or your state Senator! If ENOUGH ordinary people were to let it be known how they feel about Japan's continuing decimation of Dolphin herds (as well as their continued over-fishing of the world's seas) or Norway's continued hunting of Whales (Japan is also one of the frontrunners in killing off whale herds) maybe, just maybe, we can save SOME of these precious animals so that our children and their children can enjoy seeing them in the wild and NOT in some damn zoo or aquarium!
Japan is SUPPOSE to be our ally and friend, so our government turns a blind eye to their illegal activities in the ocean! I wonder how we will feel when the day comes and we realize Japan has over-fished the oceans to the point nothing is left but garbage? What the real shame here is the complacency of most of the people on this planet as the extinctions continue to mount up!
The Bear Gall Bladder trade in the USA was brought here by...wait for it...The Chinese!
Poachers in California kill bears for their gall bladders, teeth and penis's, and sell them to the TCM shops in Chinatown, San Fran. Sad.
And right now, in China, Vietnam and Laos, over 10,000 Moon Bears are being held captive in Bear Bile Farms, and tortured twice daily during extraction of their bile. The live with permanent catheter tubes or open infected sores for 10 plus years; until their gall bladders give out. And then their are killed and thrown away like trash.
The Bile extraction procedure is extremely painful. The bears scream like and electrocuted child during the process. Go to YouTube and search for Bear Bile Farms.
It's disgusting and will make you want to wretch.
The best part..the suspected active ingredient in the bile (not proven) is ursodeoxycholic acid, which can be produced synthetically and inexpensively.
Chinese are the biggest parasites on the planet, and will eventually destroy it for all of us.
Humans...the species born with the ability to cross many lines that other species can't cross. We are practically limitless. We learn what we are 'supposed' to do and we learn what we aren't supposed to do.
But even with our ability and our knowledge we lack the discipline to stop ourselves from doing things that hurt others, and even ourselves.
The Chinese and Japanese, etc. have societies that are based on intangibles like "face". This in some case means more than just losing face, in same case it means gaining face. Consider this the global version of "keeping up with the Jones". If you have the money or the connections you have to get the things your neighbor has or better yet what he doesn't have. Ivory carvings, bear bile cleansing, tiger penis erectile treatments, whale meat, ambergris perfumes, panda skin carpets, rhino horn aphrodisiacs, shark fin soup, so why not add manta ray gill rakers to list of things that do nothing for the people that purchase them but increase the rate of endangered species loss, All of this is based on centuries of ignorance and fear of our own mortality and and no amount of money or purchases will ever change the inevitablity of the latter, BTW the argument that it is the suppliers that are doing the damage I strongly denounce that argumant. Eliminate the market and the suppliers have nobody to sell anything to and will stop wasting their time on something that doesn't provide a profit. I also believe that the best way to bring this to a stop is to apply an endangered species tarif on all imports from countries that are consumers of by-products from endangered animals. Hit them where they will feel it, in their wallets. For those of us that will have to pay more for those imported items, consider it as your personal donatation for endangered species protection.
What needs to be done, is a rumor that the real ancient Chinese medicine is in the blood of old Chinese people so they stop killing every almost extinct animal on Earth trying to live longer lives and have bigger wieners.
They're the cause of 90 plus percent of all poached animals in the World.
Glad to hear the "scientists" are jumping in. Those of us concerned with conservation have know this for years. I am giving up hope that man feels any sense of responsibilty for animals that will soon be extinct. I don't think most people care as long as they can shop on Black Friday and screw everything else.
When I saw the link to the story entitled "Rush to save Mantas" I though that it was Limbaugh that they were talking about!
I believe in the value of traditional medicine (not without criticism) - yet EVEN IF IT WORKS - decimating wildlife for that is absolutely criminal. Chinese seem to have little respect for wildlife..everything is about exploitation...but then even humans who think themselves center of the universe know that they should care about replenishing resources. China's apetite for its monsterous population is a bottomless pit.
Everything about CHina seems unsustainable...and they take us down their fall/
"Pandas of the ocean"
Umm, ok then.
As odd as it may sound...I love stingrays. They are the cute puppies and kittens of the sea. They are NOT aggresive and they have no teeth.
I have had the honor of being an uninvited guest in their backyard and they have always been respectful. My best hope is that I have beeen respectful in return.
I love them too.
BTW-I am a licensed scuba diver.
Certified PADI since 1975! Been to Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman? It is very cool.
Do not rub yourself after you handle the fish they give you to attract the rays. In fact, let someone else handle it altogether! You will thank me later.
:-)))
JUNEBUG the whities might kill more animals but the blacks kill morepeople.The prisons are full with these great citizens.
As alway with the Chinese UNBELIEVEABLE. Go ahead and suck the earth dry.
I don't believe the article.
It's a pile of B/S.
As far as I have observed, the tea partiers think all science is BS.
and I bet your mantra is "drill baby drill" kiss your Palin's ass goodbye, smarter people will prevail.
Nobody cares what you believe. Go watch TV.
When I first saw the headlines Rush to save the Manta's, I thought the dude did this for rehab.
Glncing at the headline, I thought Rush Limbaugh was going to save the manta rays! Then I thought about it. LOL