Proyecto Mantas Ecuador - Intro Video

February 2019

Ecuador shares the largest known population of oceanic manta rays in the world, but it is still fraught with artisanal fishing pressure and rising human impacts, making it an ideal location to study this iconic species and focus efforts to protect them.

Proyecto Mantas Ecuador, one of the Manta Trust’s affiliate projects, was founded in 2010 to conduct focused research that can be used to assist in the conservation management of Ecuador's oceanic mantas.

Proyecto Mantas Ecuador was created to research, protect and conserve the large populations of giant manta rays found along the Ecuadorian coastline and in the Galapagos Islands. After three years of fieldwork in the region of Puerto López, "Mantas Ecuador" was officially formed when it became apparent that there was a strong need for the development of a long-term scientific program on this species in the country. As one of the most loved marine species and the largest living rays in our ocean, mantas have always been focal species for marine tourism. Unfortunately, as long-lived animals with low reproductive rates, their populations are usually the first to be reduced by human pressures. Having only been recently assigned as a vulnerable species, the giant manta is now the focus of intense scientific scrutiny. Ecuador is a world centre of abundance for manta rays, with the largest documented population of giant mantas in the world. One of the largest seasonal aggregation sites ever identified exists off Isla de la Plata in the Machallia National Park. This location represents one of the finest opportunities to study this species in the wild, with seasonal sightings exceeding any other known location on the globe. With time ticking away and Manta populations being decimated by fisheries across the globe, our primary objective is to conduct cutting-edge scientific research that can be immediately applied to the conservation of these large marine species. More specifically, our focused research program in the country examines issues that are directly related to the management of manta rays along the coast of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.