After the new manta ray was introduced to the Atlantis Aquarium I knew that I was part of something very special, but I never expected to meet an undescribed species: after watching the two huge manta rays while snorkeling with them for hours I realized that I am part of something even more exciting than just swimming together with two manta rays….I noticed that she was different than the manta rays I met and studied before… I have worked on Manta alfredi in the Maldives and Manta birostris in Ecuador, but she rather looked like the mix of these two species…


Photo © Csilla Ari

So, I am sorry I let you wait for so long before sharing this exciting information…right after the new manta`s arrival I started to feel strange. Later that day, in just a few minutes I started to have fever 104F, lost all my energy and was shaking like leaves on a tree at autumn. I can`t be that exhausted after snorkeling for a few hours??!!-I thought. After visiting a nurse and a doctor`s office I was released with some antibiotics and hoped that a day or two rest will be enough to get me over this unfortunate, sudden disease. As the days passed the situation just worsened to the point where I was not even able to get out of bed and felt like I will never ever feel like eating or drinking anything anymore. As even fever reducers were not able to reduce my body temperature and I was not able to eat or drink for days I soon ended up in a hospital. I was very angry at myself…I knew I had to forget to snorkel for a while with the manta rays and to collect convincing proofs that the new manta is really an undescribed species. I was diagnosed with dengue fever. It is an infectious tropical virus which is commonly called `breakbone fever ` …the next 3 days I spent almost unconscious with extremely low white blood cell and platelet count, fearing to get infection or spontaneous internal bleeding. I learned that the dengue virus is carried by infected mosquitos and I remembered that a few days earlier I had about 20 mosquito bites on my legs. I was even more angry about this situation: I traveled around the world, to remote areas in South America, Africa or South-East Asia, but never got any serious disease. Now, when I have something important to do…

Photo © Csilla Ari

I requested regular updates from the aquarium how the new manta ray was doing and after getting out of the hospital I wanted to rush to the tank to continue my observations and experiments, but my body did not work exactly how I wanted: I was not even able to walk without help, not talking about diving…when I finally had the chance I managed to collect all the evidence and finally I believed myself the unbelievable: I was looking at a new manta ray species that has not been described by scientists yet!

Photo © Csilla Ari

When I left the Bahamas 40 people were already diagnosed with dengue fever, a few days later hundreds were lining up in the hospitals (I was very careful and did not get any mosquito bites after the hospital, knowing its possibly dangerous consequence to others). I checked the news today…more than 3000 people were confirmed to have dengue fever ….there have also been confirmed deaths from the virus and it is assumed that there have been more cases and deaths than have been reported…

I wrote about this unfortunate event to warn others about dangers that we normally would not think of while traveling or being busy with doing our research.

After consulting with other manta ray researchers now I am confident that I had the chance to study a new species that is going to be described in the near future.

And of course, I am going to share more stories with you about these amazing animals very soon, when I get back on track.

Photo © Csilla Ari