The impacts of tourism on a population of manta rays, Baa Atoll, Republic of Maldives

Abstract

The popularity of marine tourism has increased steadily over recent decades and is considered more sustainable than consumptive use of marine megafauna. The seasonal migration of manta rays to Republic of Maldives has resulted in a significant increase in the number of tourists participating in manta-related activities. Heavy site use has led to observations of disturbance that has the potential to cause detrimental impacts to manta rays health and behaviour. This increase in tourism pressure and possible detrimental impacts indicates investigation into human interactions with manta rays should be conducted. Video footage of interactions between humans and manta rays were filmed at cleaning and feeding stations within Baa Atoll, Maldives. A total of 263 unique interactions of both divers and snorkelers were filmed and analysed for a number of variable including interaction type and the response elicited from manta rays. Humans exhibited behaviours such as following, intentional touching, diving under and passive observations. Manta rays reacted to interactions with response behaviours such as avoidance, flight, course re-direction and no response. The findings suggest that human behaviours are largely passive and cause relatively little disturbance to manta rays natural behaviour. A number of minor and major disturbance behaviours can be addressed by initiating the use of a code of conduct by tourism operators. A precautionary approach to managing manta ray tourism must be taken in order to prevent tourism on larger scales causing disturbance and potentially affecting the long term health of the manta ray population. At current levels of tourism, in-water encounters appear to be sustainable and provide a significant source of revenue without long term detrimental impacts to manta rays