Alfred's Manta Ray
ALFRED'S MANTA RAY: "HAHALUA" (Manta Alfredi) a.k.a. Prince Alfred's Manta Ray. This Ray is a large species and quite closely resembles the other Manta Rays, with widened pectoral fins and the two horn-like cephalic fins projecting forward from the head on each side of the mouth and whip-like tail (no spine on tail). Its color is slate gray or black on the top side, and the lower surface has irregular black-gray markings and spots. These groups of markings make it easy to identify each individual. As in the photo above, the cephalic fins unfurl in the feeding mode. This Ray will often reach a width of at least twelve feet. In the photo below, the horn-like cephalic fins are projecting forward and furl up like a cork screw for high speed flight. They are named for Prince Alfred Ernest (1844-1900), the forth child of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. The name "Hahalua" is Hawaiian for Manta Ray.
MANTA RAY MADNESS
A lone manta ray, with a wing span of 12 feet, found his way into a small bay between OTEC (the ocean technology and research center) and the Kona Airport. Perhaps due to the ambient light coming from both these places, he came into contact with millions, tens of millions, of swarming plankton (thumbnail-sized larval fish, octopus, lobsters, and microscopic mysids, shrimp-like animals). It was so incredible! He was surprised and amazed to find all that food in one small area. As he made one of his loops into that glow of light collecting plankton, he relished in this new-found underwater supermarket. Loop after loop, he gathered his meal of plankton. This was too easy; he was full in about an hour. It would have taken a full day to collect that plankton by swimming the whole Kona Coast. "Got to tell my friends about this," he thought, and that's how the word got out. Today he and his friends gather almost every sunset to feast on the tiny snacks which gather at this one spot on the Kona Coast
We at KCD came up with an idea to have cordless, highly powered lights with
over 400 watts, to enhance the plankton bloom immensely, and help ensure that
our divers would see mantas on just about every trip. This idea became a reality
when we had these lights specially manufactured for us. On each of our manta
trips, divemasters place these light units in a depth of 30-40 feet, which
gives the Manta Rays lots of room to feed. Our customers gather around the
lights in a wide circle, as a swarm of plankton clouds around the lights.
Then, out of nowhere, within the outer darkness, the slow-moving mantas materialize.
Your heart almost stops as you see this gentle giant come within inches of
you, making endless slow loops in the shaft of light coming from our "Manta
Catchers" (the name we gave our underwater lights). We have spotted up
to a dozen mantas on a given trip; although this is not a normal occurrence,
we have been fortunate in seeing at least one manta almost every trip!
When you have had enough of the "Manta Ray Madness" there is a lot more
to see, due to the profusion of food that these lights attract. Lots of other
species of night feeding fish are found in the area, including an incredible
field of waving garden eels.
Since the Manta Ray Dive is rated one of the world's best dives, we would like to point out helpful information to keep this dive one of the world's best:
Please do not ride the Manta or touch them while they are feeding or at any other time, even if some of the other dive operators tell you that it is okay. By touching the Mantas, it takes off a protective coating around their bodies and leaves them open to a chain reaction infection that could ultimately lead to death. Also it will frighten the Mantas off, taking the enjoyment away from the other divers who came to Hawaii for this special encounter with the gentle giants of the Kona Coast.
If you are going to go with a dive operator, ask the following questions for your own safety and enjoyment:
What is the size of their boat?
How long have they been in operation?
- Do they provide handheld lights and fixed light on the bottom to attract
plankton?
-
- Do they have and leave a U.S.C.G. certified/licensed operator on board?
-
- Do they rent the finest scuba equipment?
-
- Do they have the most important equipment aboard their dive boat: a cell
phone, marine radio (USCG).
-
- Do they offer a Sunset dive in conjunction with the Manta Ray dive?
If you would like to purchase a video of this incredible dive, please E-MAIL US, "attention: Video Service."
Manta Ray Madness Rates and Schedule
Return of Fish and Dive Locations table
Home
ALFRED'S MANTA RAY: "HAHALUA" (Manta Alfredi) a.k.a. Prince Alfred's Manta Ray. This Ray is a large species and quite closely resembles the other Manta Rays, with widened pectoral fins and the two horn-like cephalic fins projecting forward from the head on each side of the mouth and whip-like tail (no spine on tail). Its color is slate gray or black on the top side, and the lower surface has irregular black-gray markings and spots. These groups of markings make it easy to identify each individual. As in the photo above, the cephalic fins unfurl in the feeding mode. This Ray will often reach a width of at least twelve feet. In the photo below, the horn-like cephalic fins are projecting forward and furl up like a cork screw for high speed flight. They are named for Prince Alfred Ernest (1844-1900), the forth child of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. The name "Hahalua" is Hawaiian for Manta Ray.
