Reef Manta Ray

Photo: scott_phares · © all rights reserved

Makena hosts a small but stable resident population of reef mantas that are individually identified by researchers using their unique ventral spot patterns — some individuals have been documented at this site for more than 15 consecutive years. Mantas are filter feeders with the largest brain-to-body ratio of any fish, and the night-feeding behaviour at Makena is a learned cultural tradition passed among local individuals rather than an instinctive response.