New Zealand (Commonwealth Union) – Efforts by conservation scientists to introduce endangered species or protect existing habitats saw a few success stories in recent years. However, many conservation scientists have stressed that work is far from done and many more efforts are needed.
A researcher from the University of Auckland has found a location where manta rays are thriving. In another rare positive indication of marine life, scientists have discovered a space where reef manta rays are thriving.
Over a decade, populations rose significantly in Raja Ampat archipelago in Indonesia, emphasizing the significance of long-term conservation and management steps like well-enforced Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and fisheries regulations, according to the University of Auckland, with Institute of Marine Science researcher Edy Setyawan, further indicating in his first published proof of reef manta ray populations elevating anywhere worldwide. “Despite the global decline in oceanic sharks and rays because of overfishing over the past 50 years, the reef manta rays in Raja Ampat have been recovering and thriving,” he said.
Edy Setyawan and his colleagues researched reef manta rays in two of Raja Ampat’s biggest MPAs, Dampier Strait and South East Misool. Observations of rays were utilized, each individually noted by photograph, for evaluating population dynamics from 2009 to 2019.
The Dampier Strait, saw the estimated population go up to 317, an annual compound elevation of 3.9% and South East Misool’s estimated rise of 511 was 10.7%. Elevated population sizes were due to high survival rates and high rates of recruitment according to researchers.
Currently approximately 16,000 to 18,000 of the creatures may survive, with the Maldives having the largest number, at least 5,000 individuals and then Indonesia with roughly 3,500.
“Unfortunately, reef manta rays are generally in decline, as in Mozambique where they have been continuously caught in targeted fisheries, or just holding steady, as in Australia and the Maldives,” said Setyawan.
