Project Updates from Jamie Monmaneerat at the Thailand Manta Project

June 2019

Sawasdee ka, warm greetings from Thailand Manta Project. In case you were wondering, yes, there are manta rays in Thailand! We have just finished our manta season which is on the period of November to April each year.

This season we got to celebrate exciting news in September as the Thai government announced the addition of 12 marine species onto the national protected species list, 6 of which are mobula species seen in Thai waters! This is a good sign and the start of Thailand’s movement towards ocean protection.

After a very quiet manta season in 2017, we were happy to have the mantas visiting regular cleaning stations on the west coast again. But that’s not all, there were also a few reports of manta sightings on the East coast, which is very unusual!

This reminds us on how little we know about these populations, and how much more there is to learn about the Thai manta populations. One of many reasons why it is so important for us to continue doing our work in this beautiful country.

In February we also had our very first Manta Expedition in the Thai Andaman Sea. Though we were unlucky with the manta rays, but we had 9 days of spectacular dives on an iconic vessel, The Junk. During this expedition, 20 divers from 12 different countries got to learn about manta rays and marine conservation. Through their support and collaboration, we have gained more ecological information of the sites, which is another important factor of our research.

If you did not make it to our last expedition, not to worry as we will have 2 expeditions coming in February 2020! This time, apart from exploring Thailand we will also travel up to Myanmar to discover the much less dove and known places. For more information, visit www.mantaexpeditions.com . We look forward to welcome you to this land of smile soon.

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