RSS Feed (xml)
We left out of Honokohau Harbor around 3:30pm heading north toward the airport. After we arrived, we spent some time snorkeling around and checking the place out. As the sun set, we were briefed on what we should expect to see. Our group were the only ones that weren't diving, so we let everyone get geared up and in the water first. We were each given a dive light that would help attract the plankton that the mantas eat. There were several other boats in the same spot, and everyone else had lights as well. One boat set up a few lights on the bottom. Everyone sits in a circle on the sea floor and shines their lights upward. The mantas came around quickly, some were even swimming around the boat before it got dark.
Some of these mantas have been coming to this spot for over thirty years. Each one has been filmed, identified, and named. Some of them have distinctive markings, like missing cephalic lobes (the fin near their mouth), fish hooks stuck in them, missing tails, etc.. The largest we saw had a wingspan of nearly 15ft. These creatures can grow to have almost double that further offshore. Despite their size, they are incredibly graceful and harmless. They will swim RIGHT up to you. If they got too close we were instructed to either turn off our dive light, or shine it against our chest so the plankton would disappear. Once you had a bunch of plankton swimming around you, the mantas would come right up and start doing somersaults in front of your face, catching as much plankton as possible. All you had to do was remain still.
After awhile the plankton started to disappear, and so did the mantas. We were in the water with an approximate total of 20-25 of them at one time. Some of the close-up pics really show the swarms of plankton. They can also give you an idea of how big these creatures mouths are! All in all, this was a great experience that I would recommend to anyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment