An entire year has passed, and I find myself again in Ecuador, the middle of the earth. Literally. Not much has changed in the sleepy town of Puerto Lopez. Sadly the fish market is still full of sharks. They come up day after day in staggering numbers. Sharks of all shapes and sizes, although surprisingly different species dominated this year than when I was here last September. As I walked the beach, I wondered to myself if this was a coincidence. I also considered that it may be due to a change in environmental conditions or a result of fisherman concentrating their efforts in new areas of the coast. Any of the explanations seemed possible, but I was still not able to shake the disturbing feeling that the reduction in their catch of thresher sharks and angel sharks may be a permanent result of their unprecedented exploitation.

With a heavy heart, I headed offshore with Project Elasmo and a new group of research volunteers. As we made our way to the island my mood lifted as we were greeted by several over zealous humpback whales. Over and over these ocean goliaths propelled themselves from their watery abodes, reaching hopefully for the sky, only to come crashing down again. This region is full of life this time of year. I would guess that the Humboldt Current, which seasonally pushes its way up from the south, is responsible for energizing this coastline. Whatever the reason, I felt grateful to be here doing research again.

After the success of our satellite tagging project last year I could not resist returning to my self-proclaimed ‘Treasure Island’. The manta tracks from last year were interesting to say the least. Very interesting. All three tags detached prematurely but despite this setback they managed to tell an interesting story (one that we are still in the process of interpreting). We know that two of the mantas traveled south after leaving Isla de la Plata, but interestingly one of the mantas moved, almost purposefully, due west.

One of the tags popped off at the boarder between Ecuador and Peru and was almost immediately brought in by a Peruvian fisherman (who, I am told, commonly fish illegally in Ecuadorian waters). Nothing is conclusive, but let’s just say that I was certainly concerned that Humboldt may have been killed. This was not encouraging news.

Darwin, our other male manta swam in a westerly direction moving farther and farther away from shore. As he traveled out from the continental shelf he continued to make incredibly deep dives, all the while moving west. I did not want to jump to conclusions but he almost seemed to be following the Carnegie Ridge that connects mainland Ecuador to the Galapagos. Could mantas from aggregation sites on the mainland be traveling all the way to the famed world heritage site, almost 1000 km from shore? It seemed an intriguing proposition.

I have never been good at walking away from a mystery. So, after sourcing funding from SOS for two additional satellite tags, I headed back to Isla de la Plata to tag more mantas. This time I intended to tag more purposefully. I was determined to select the largest mature female I could find, in hopes that large females may travel longer distances. I also desperately wanted to tag a melanistic, or black manta, since they had eluded me last year.

This year’s diving proved to be even more exciting than the last. Some days we saw upwards of 25 individuals in a single dive. The water was not as clear as it had been last year, but that fact was far from my mind as we watched the magical show unfolding in front of us. We found mantas on every dive site on every side of the island. They were basking at the surface, breaching out of the water and cleaning at depth. Much to my delight, we were often surrounded by large, mature females. The previous year we saw only a handful of female rays, making it hard for me to actively target them for tagging. In addition, the female rays I was encountering were amongst the largest mantas I have seen at any location in the world. They were enormous! Amazingly, I also saw several females with fresh reproductive scars, confirming that this area is indeed being used by breeding individuals. Towards the end of my trip I even managed to have an up-close and personal interaction with a pregnant female, one of only 4 individual giant mantas that I have EVER seen pregnant!

For a detailed account of what unfolded during the week, please watch my exciting research video blog which will be posted shortly! Highlights include the tagging of two giant mantas, tissue sampling and even me cutting out a large manta entangled in fishing line!

This tiny offshore island is truly an amazing location, one that deserves our attention and continued support. Ecuador has made the first step, officially protecting manta rays nationally in their waters. However, critical habitats, like the one at Isla de la Plata will require far more care and management if we are to protect this area as a refuge for these gentle giants.