In October 2021, a team of 16 researchers, educators and media makers embarked on a Manta Trust research expedition to the far north of the Maldives. We travelled into undocumented manta habitat, helping us to identify new manta ray aggregation sites, and connect with local communities which are normally out of our reach. By having a large skill-varied team of Manta Trust experts on board we were able to not only carry out a wide variety of research aims (from population ecology to habitat use and migration behaviour), but also to carry out educational outreach on new islands and gather historical knowledge from local fishers.
Thank you to Carl F. Bucherer for funding this expedition.
