This post is one of a series on projects supported by the Aquarium’s Marine Conservation Action Fund (MCAF). Through MCAF, the Aquarium supports researchers, conservationists and grassroots organizations all around the world as they work to address the most challenging problems facing the ocean. This series focuses on a satellite tagging project underway by the Manta Trust. Catch up with Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

Guest blogger Josh Stewart of the Manta Trust recently shared some information about a scientific project to study manta rays. Catch up with his posts on the Explorers Blog:

• Read a first-hand account of what it's like to tag these massive animals, and 
• Learn why these research endeavors are so important.

Now that you know all about tagging these animals and what information scientists with Manta Trust are hoping to get from these devices, indulge yourself with a moment underwater with these researchers. This video lets you swim deep below the surface among these massive animals with wingspans of up to 7 meters (that's nearly 23 feet!). Watch as the scientists slip behind the animals and plant the tag as gently as possible—with little reaction from the ray.


Tagging an Oceanic Manta from Josh Stewart on Vimeo.

And now that you're thoroughly enthralled by these animals, we hope you'll head over to our manta Facebook post and submit a name for two of these beauties! The rays we're naming are both females. The Aquarium's Conservation Department will consider all the names posted on our manta Facebook posts between today and Tuesday, September 9. Get creative. Think about names that might be educational, or touch on conservation issues, or their beauty. The winners will be announced on September 16, and they'll get a beautiful plush animal from our Gift Shop to remind them of their special connection to "their ray" soaring through the Pacific Ocean. Good luck, we can't wait to see what you come up with.

Learn about other projects supported by the Aquarium's MCAF program, all supporting grassroots research around the world to study and protect animals and habitats of our blue planet!

• Leatherback sea turtle nest protection and relocation in Indonesia
• Tackling a growing threat to manta rays in Sri Lanka
• Measuring a reef's resilience to climate change in the Indian Ocean
• Studying the impact of flooding on Indus River dolphins in India and Pakistan
• Protecting sea turtles in Costa Rica
• Studying whale sharks in the Gulf of Mexico after the Gulf Oil Spill