eManta: Global Manta Ray Project
Along with eShark, eManta started as a foundational project for eOceans — gathering 600,000 observations from 90 regions of the world, showing that mantas are hunted many places and threatened by international trade. Threats continue to evolve, so this project is ongoing in the eOceans app and we welcome collaborators.
eManta - Powered by ocean explorers, like you.
People love manta rays.
Tourists spend over one-hundred million dollars a year just to see them in a few places.
So alarms rang when they started to disappear.
By collecting 600,000 observations from ocean explorers in 90 regions of the world, we found that although only two countries reporting catching manta rays, they were being caught and sold in markets around the world.
This discrepancy helped them get on the endangered species list (Appendix II of CITES).
Click HERE to read the full paper and learn more about the need for, and incredible impact of, eManta.
eManta is ongoing
Originally, this project focused solely on describing manta ray populations and their threats.
With the eOceans app and platform, these data can now support global manta ray assessments—and be reapplied to evaluate fisheries, design protected areas, and assess new policies in real time.
Start your own Manta project —
Want to study manta rays in your own area or country, or their behaviour, policies, and more?
Create your own project in the eOceans app and, if you decide, collaborate with eOceans on the global project seamlessly.
Your observations matter.
See a manta ray or one of its threats? Log it in the eOceans app! Your data helps track populations, identify threats, and drive conservation. The ocean is vast—every observation counts, including yours.
