Mantas are sporadically seen throughout the atoll. The largest ones, with a wingspan of 8m or more, are usually seen cruising along the seaward reef and are probably the Oceanic Manta, Mobula birostris. Smaller ones that appear to be Mobula alfredi are more common in some lagoon sites. The island of Ebwaj (Shell Island) is a good place to see them coming into the shallow reef to be serviced by cleaner wrasses. Sometimes individuals can be recognized by the pattern of white or black patches and spots on the undersurface and are often found to return to the same areas.
Mantas at Kwaj may have white undersides with a few patches of gray or black, or black undersides with small patches of white. We are treating them all the same here, but it has been suggested that the white-bellies and black-bellies could be different species.
Created 1 October 2013
Updated 5 September 2017