Mandel Public Library to celebrate World Manta Day Sept. 19

A manta ray uses its broad, winglike fins to glide through the water. [Photo by Caleb]

Mandel Public Library is celebrating World Manta Day on Saturday, Sept. 19, with two free programs led by scientists from the Marine Megafauna Foundation from 3 to 4 p.m. at the library at 411 Clematis St. in West Palm Beach.

In the Clematis Room, adults can learn about the manta ray nursery discovered just off Florida’s coast and the work to protect it. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early for a virtual-reality film offering an underwater look at the animals.

At the same time, families with kindergartners through fifth-graders can attend “All About Manta Rays” in the Kids Programming Space, where young ocean explorers will learn about Florida’s sharks and rays, including the mysterious manta. Space is limited.

The manta nursery was identified by Jessica Pate, a Florida Atlantic University graduate and founder of the Marine Megafauna Foundation’s Florida Manta Project, after she spotted a manta ray while patrolling Juno Beach for sea turtle nests on an ATV. Pate’s subsequent research, published in the journal Endangered Species Research, documented juvenile manta rays repeatedly using the same shallow waters along a roughly 58-mile stretch of coastline between the St. Lucie Inlet and Boynton Beach — a pattern scientists say meets the definition of a nursery habitat. It was only the third manta ray nursery identified worldwide, after discoveries in Indonesia and the Gulf of Mexico, and is the first found in such a densely populated, urban environment.

Despite their size — adult giant manta rays can reach 23 feet across — the animals feed on tiny zooplankton and pose no danger to people. Each manta carries its own natural identification card: a unique pattern of spots on its belly that researchers use like a human fingerprint to track individuals over time. Many of the young mantas documented in Florida’s waters have shown injuries from fishing hooks, fishing lines and boat propeller strikes, underscoring the conservation concerns driving the foundation’s local research.

World Manta Day is observed internationally Sept. 17 to celebrate manta rays and draw attention to the threats they face. The library’s program gives people a chance to join the celebration without getting their feet wet.