Manta Ray Squadron — Hanifaru Bay Mass Feeding
1,199.00 د.إ
A squadron of 30 manta rays barrel-rolling in a feeding vortex in the Maldives’ Hanifaru Bay — the mantas photographed from directly above during a neap tide aggregation with manta wings overlapping in the dense feeding formation.
Description
Hanifaru Bay in the Maldives’ Baa Atoll is the world’s most reliable manta ray aggregation site — during neap tides when current conditions concentrate plankton in the shallow bay, up to 200 manta rays may assemble in cooperative feeding formations. The barrel roll feeding behaviour — where mantas somersault repeatedly through concentrated plankton patches — creates the most visually complex manta photography available when multiple animals adopt the behaviour simultaneously. This image was made with an underwater camera from a surface position at the bay’s feeding aggregation zone during a 30-manta active feeding event, the camera positioned above the feeding mantas looking down. The overlapping wing patterns of the simultaneously barrel-rolling mantas create a complex geometric arrangement that fills the frame with the characteristic white-and-black patterning of the oceanic manta.
