Manta Ray Tracker

Meet the Manta Rays of Kona, Hawaii!

Since 1991, the Kona Manta Rays have been photographed and identified using their unique spot pattern on their ventral (abdominal) side. The first Kona Manta Ray ever identfied was Lefty, and there are now more than 300 unique rays catalogued. Download the Manta Ray Tracker App from the iOS App Store, and get to know them!

With this App, you'll be able to:

• Download the full list of identified Manta Rays as well as Refresh the list by only downloading the recently added ones
• View Photos and Descriptions of each ray as well as view the recent sightings of each individual
• Lookup sighting information from each one of the regular night dive locations, as well as lookup when the "most" and "least" mantas were seen at these sites
• Lookup the Mantas by the individuals seen the most, and lookup the Users who have contributed the most sightings

Please contribute your own manta photos to our sighting database! If you can't identify it, we will help you figure it out if it's an acceptable photo. If you submit a photo of an unknown manta, you can name it and we will add it to the ID catalog. We also want to accumulate as many photos of each individual as we can with the idea that eventually we may be able to automatically recognize an individual from their photo.

Many Kona Manta Ray guides contribute their sighting information into the database, but we are always looking for more data. Ask your guide to submit their sighting information, or take some ID photos yourself and send those in. Whether the individual mantas are already identified, or you just have a total number seen, we want your reports.

You can create a location for your sighting anywhere along the Kona Coast. You can use the built-in GPS on your iOS device, you can use the built-in map to mark the location, or you can manually type in the GPS coordinates. You don't need an internet connection to create a sighting. You can create as many sightings as you want entering the specific information for each one, continue to fill out the information as needed, and then submit reports to us once you are back in internet range.

Contribute to our Research!

Crowd Sourcing Data Collection and Citizen Science contributions allow for a larger collection of data than is possible with a limited number of researchers. Help us create awareness of the plight of Manta Rays worldwide by studying our local Kona Manta Ray population. Help us with Research, Education, and Conservation of Manta Rays!