“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” — JACQUES COUSTEAU
In 2018, the U.S. listed the giant manta ray on the Endangered Species List, due to mounting threats from human activity, including overfishing, marine pollution and climate change. Jessica hopes her work will contribute valuable information necessary to protect them, including where they are going and what specific threats they face in Florida, which so far, seems to be injuries from boat strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Jessica and her crew of volunteers search the coast for dark black shapes at the surface of the water. It can be tricky, as lots of things can end up looking like the manta rays, including other wildlife and even rocks, she jokes. Once someone spots a manta, a team member will slip into the water to collect photographs of the animal. Like a fingerprint, manta rays have unique spot patterns on their bellies that scientists can use to identify individuals. So far, Jessica has amassed a catalog of 59 individuals with the help of divers and citizen scientists. Some mantas are seen many times throughout a season while others are only seen once. The more popular rays are given names, like Rosa, Nico and Gillie. Since 2017, Jessica and her crew have spotted Gillie 23 times. This year, they spotted eight mantas in one day—a new record. “It makes for a tiring, but thrilling day to swim with so many mantas,” she says. All eight from that day were new to the project’s database. Just like people, the mantas have unique personalities and some are more curious than others. “Getting checked out by an 8-foot ray is truly an awe-inspiring experience and something that I will never tire of.”
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January-February 2020
Portfolio-VeroBeach.com
Portfolio-VeroBeach.com
January-February 2020
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