From @savingthewaves 🔘 🌀 Every family has an overachiever 🤓 For sharks, it's their highly intelligent cousin - the manta ray ––——––——––——|🔹|––——––——––—— 🔘 #SavingTheWaves ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Mantas have huge brains. manta’s brain can be ten times larger than a whale shark’s— the biggest of any fish — with especially developed areas for learning, problem solving and communicating. Not only is the brain physically big, it’s also large relative to the ray’s body. That’s another sign of super smartness, true of elephants, dolphins and people too. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The giant rays are playful, curious and might even recognize themselves in mirrors, a sign of self-awareness. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Unfortunately for manta rays, smart doesn’t mean safe. Fishermen in countries like Sri Lanka and India hunt the graceful giants for their gill rakers: rows of cartilage that are increasingly popular in Chinese medicine. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It’s an analog to shark fin soup, except the gill rakers are used in a pseudo-remedy, supposed to have a whole range of medicinal qualities, which have no basis in medical science. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Mantas are actively hunted for their gill rakers and meat, and die as collateral damage, accidentally snared in fishing nets and hooked on lines, or struck by ships while basking at the surface. That’s all unsustainable. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The rays reproduce slowly: a female has one pup every few years. When populations decline — by as much as 80 percent in some places — they struggle to bounce back. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ While manta intelligence doesn’t guarantee their legal safety, it does help. Because they’re smart and curious and fun to spend time with, people are willing to do more to protect them. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 📸: @shawnheinrichs Via: @candace.crespi ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - Don't wait for change, BE the change - ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ––——––——––——|🔹|––——––——––—— #respectnature #lovemarinelife
