Latest News
MMF Helps Shape Seven New Important Shark and Ray Areas in Myanmar & Thailand
MMF continues to play a key role in supporting the identification of critical marine habitats.
MMFs Jessica Pate Awarded Sea Hero for Manta Ray Conservation
Putting manta rays front and center with her identification project
MMF’s Decades-Long Research Pivotal in Establishing New IUCN Important Shark and Ray Areas
MMF’s dedicated research across Mozambique, Tanzania, Madagascar, Qatar, Oman, and Mayotte has been instrumental in identifying these key habitats.
Gaming Meets Marine Conservation: UNEP's Green Game Jam 2023 Partners with Marine Megafauna Foundation
The Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF) has been named an official Impact Partner for the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Playing For the Planet - Green Game Jam 2023.
Virtual Reality brings “Flight of the Mantas” to life
The Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF) has partnered with Immotion, the leading provider of location-based VR edutainment, to create an educational and immersive virtual reality (VR) experience titled "Flight of the Mantas."
New study confirms a world-first international migration of reef manta rays
New research by the Marine Megafauna Foundation, has extended the southern range of the reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) in Africa, connecting the longest monitored and highly vulnerable population of reef manta rays along southern Mozambique to the UNESCO World Heritage site of iSimangaliso in South Africa.
New Study Finds The World's Largest Population Of Giant Oceanic Manta Rays
New collaborative research on giant oceanic manta rays off the Ecuadorian coast has definitively identified more individuals than any other location in the world, with over 2,800 identified during the 14-year study period.
Happy World Manta Day! Here are the latest discoveries on manta rays from our global team
MMF first began as the ‘Manta & Whale Shark Research Centre’ in Tofo, Mozambique, where Andrea Marshall completed the world’s first PhD on the biology and ecology of manta rays. Years later, she and the MMF team continue as world leaders in manta ray research and conservation. To help celebrate these majestic sea flap-flaps, we’ve compiled some updates on the latest discoveries on manta ray from our global team:
New Study Shows Reef Manta Ray Social Relationships Depend on Individual Behavior Differences
The study reveals that these rays regularly form social groups and that their relationships depend on individual differences in movement behavior.
New Study Shows Komodo National Park Holds Some Of The Largest Aggregations Of Manta Rays
The area may hold the key to regional recovery of the threatened species.
Microplastics and Manta Rays: What’s In the Water?
This new study continues our previous investigations into plastics in manta ray feeding grounds to find out what types of plastics these animals are accidentally ingesting.
Why Do Manta Rays Move Their Cephalic Lobes?
Results suggest that cephalic lobe movements may be important in social communication or sensing of the local environment, as well as being used in feeding.
End of the Line: Oceanic sharks and rays in 50-year decline
A devastating new study documents an alarming decline of oceanic shark and ray populations – 71% over the past 50 years – primarily due to overfishing. The study confirms fears that high levels of decline in pelagic sharks and rays are happening on a worldwide scale.
Manta rays and whale sharks now protected in Mozambique
After 20 years of research and lobbying efforts, the Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF) is thrilled to announce a major legislative victory for ocean life in Mozambique. A new commercial fishing law enacts sweeping protections for several threatened species, including whale sharks, manta rays, and all mobula species.
Giant manta becomes the first manta ray to be listed as an endangered species
The conservation status of the giant (or oceanic) manta ray (Mobula birostris) has been uplisted today to Endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
New DNA research reveals connectivity of manta rays in southeastern Africa
Global lockdowns pose few problems for whale sharks off Tanzania. New research shows that these gigantic fish prefer to stay in the bay they call home. Scientists regard whale sharks as a “highly migratory” species, capable of swimming tens of thousands of kilometers each year. However, a study published today in the journal Frontiers in […]
Urban Mantas: A potential nursery ground for manta rays may be under threat off southeastern Florida
The first study on manta rays off the coast of Florida, published today by Endangered Species Research, has discovered a potential urban nursery ground for manta rays. Juvenile manta rays were regularly sighted in the shallow waters along Florida’s coastline, the first time a nursery habitat has been discovered in such a highly developed urban […]
Underwater ‘listening stations’ track reef manta rays in Mozambique
In a new study, published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, researchers from the Marine Megafauna Foundation, University of Western Australia and Utrecht University used acoustic telemetry to identify critical habitat areas and understand movement patterns of reef manta rays in the waters off Mozambique’s Inhambane Province. […]
Please see below for press releases announcing our scientific publications, and how to get in touch with our media team.
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If you're a journalist working on a story about topics such as marine megafauna, plastic pollution, and ocean conservation, and are in need of expert comments or imagery, please get in touch with our media team who will be happy to help. We have high-resolution images and videos available and can also assist film crews on location.
BACKGROUND
MMF’s vision is a world in which marine life and humans thrive together.We aspire to attain this state by conducting pioneering research that informs practical conservation efforts to protect threatened marine megafauna species.
‘Megafauna’ are large marine species, including sharks, rays, marine mammals, many fishes, and sea turtles. MMF research focuses on manta rays and whale sharks.
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For press information, images or to set up an interview with an MMF spokesperson, please contact: media@marinemegafauna.org
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A list of our studies and reports can be found here.