Adi Barash, Chair of the Sharks in Israel NGO, said that such sightings are rare in Eilat.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFGiant manta ray(photo credit: Courtesy)
A three-meter-wide giant manta ray was spotted off the coast of Eilat on Sunday, according to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) spokesperson.An INPA inspector said he was doing a routine dive on Sunday when he “looked up and suddenly saw a giant manta swimming above him.” The inspector said that he has been swimming for years, but the first time he saw a giant manta ray was about a month ago. This time, he said, “the view was different because I was swimming under the manta ray which allowed me to identify it as female.”Adi Barash, doctoral student and Chair of the Sharks in Israel NGO that works in environmental conservation, said that such sightings are rare in Eilat, and that Sharks in Israel has only recorded 14 similar sightings.Barash said that giant manta rays are normally around four and a half meters wide but that sighting of rays up to nine meters wide have been recorded. She went on to say giant manta rays are fished all over the world because of the high value of its fins and meat and the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the giant manta ray as vulnerable.
