Manta ID Palau
Mandy’s latest project is identifying the manta rays of Palau, and studying their seasonal movements. Since 2008, she has photo ID’d over 150 individual manta rays by their unique belly patterns, which are like fingerprints. The museum has recently launched a new website called Manta ID Palau, to gather and share information about the mantas of Palau without the need for any invasive tagging or survey methods.
The website has the belly database for Palau showing all 150 individual manta bellies, 14 of which are the rare black color morphs, these will be updated seasonally as new photos and individuals are identified. It also features a gallery of the most popular and often seen mantas at the two most popular manta dive sites, German Channel and Devilfish City, shown from different angles and describing their personalities, so visitors can try to recognize which mantas they have interacted with or seen during their dives.
