September 17 "World Ear Stingray Day"

September 17 of each year coincides with World Manta Day, first established on September 17, 2020 by The Manta Trust to raise awareness of the conservation of both manta rays and demon rays or mobula rays, which are facing a shining threat to extinction.

The Manta Ray, or the giant manta stingray, is a fish of the cartilaginous type, the largest stingray in the world, living near the surface or near the sea floor along the reef, generally about 2.2 to 2.4 meters wide, but can grow to 5.5 meters, with a mouth in front, whose beak has a large parchment that bends together, which acts to help trap plankton into the mouth more easily, with a tooth bar in the middle of the lower jaw, about 6 to 8 rows. The area near the back of the head has an oblique white stripe against a dark black background, which looks like a body shape. Y (Y) With a small dorsal fin, and a long tail like a whip, but without a spine.

Typically manta stingrays behave in a single body, or gather in small flocks, swimming on the surface and scuba diving, often swimming near rock piles to clean their bodies, giving nurse fish the removal of parasites. In addition, manta stingrays are fish that do no harm to humans, and have been found beneficial in the field of ecological noon surfing in the field of diving.

With the current condition of the sea, manta stingrays are often caught to sell their gills, or sometimes attached to nets or nets from fisheries. Coupled with the rebirth rate of manta stingrays is very low, because manta stingrays have a gestation period of up to 12-13 months and give birth only at a time. For this reason manta stingrays are designated as endangered species (Vulnerable Species, VU) on the IUCN Red List.

Conservation of manta stingrays requires cooperation from all sectors on behalf of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Species Department. Let's be one of the agents that will raise awareness of the importance of manta stingrays and all marine species that we need to conserve to balance the marine ecosystem and keep the species of these marine organisms alive with Thailand.

Source: The Manta Trust website and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources website.

# National Parks Department, Wildlife and Plant Species # Earth Stingray Day # WorldMantaDay # Rays, ears # MantaRay