Reef manta ray

Photo: Kirby Morejohn · CC BY-NC

Reef manta rays are filter feeders that target dense zooplankton and fish spawn aggregations, which concentrate along current-exposed headlands like Black Rock. Unlike oceanic mantas, reef mantas have defined home ranges and return to the same cleaning stations and feeding grounds year after year. Rarotonga's northwest coast is one of the most accessible manta encounters in the Cook Islands, reliably active from August through November when upwelling is strongest.