This year’s World Manta Day on 17 September 2025
The goal is to highlight the urgent need for stronger conservation efforts for manta and devil rays, which are facing increasing threats from overfishing and the international trade of their parts.
The message is a call to action for everyone—from local communities to global policymakers—to unite and support long-term protection for these animals. The emphasis is on taking concrete steps through science, advocacy, and law, such as pushing for new international trade bans.
The core idea is that every individual voice and action is crucial to ensuring these magnificent creatures can survive and thrive.
The Power of Protection Fast Facts about “Manta rays”
Manta rays are known for their intelligence and social behavior, possessing the largest brain-to-body ratio of any fish. These highly social creatures often spend their days in large groups and at cleaning stations in shallow water, then move to deeper waters at night to feed.
Despite their intelligence, manta rays face serious threats. Giant manta rays have a very low reproductive rate, with a single female producing only an estimated 4-7 offspring in her lifetime. This makes them especially vulnerable to overfishing, particularly due to the high demand for their gill plates in the global market. Because they reproduce so slowly, their populations take a very long time to recover from exploitation.
The IUCN has classified the giant manta ray as endangered and the reef manta ray as vulnerable.
