Overview

• An international team tagged 24 oceanic manta rays across Indonesia, Peru and New Zealand, reporting results in Frontiers in Marine Science.
• The tags recorded 79 extreme dives deeper than 500 meters with a maximum near 1,250 meters, and 71 of these events happened in New Zealand waters.
• Dive profiles showed stepped descents with little time at maximum depth, followed by surface recovery and highly directional travel covering up to about 200 km per day.
• Researchers propose the rays sample magnetic, temperature, oxygen and light gradients at depth to build mental maps for long-range navigation.
• The authors note limited sample sizes and non‑continuous tracks, urging larger, long‑term tagging and coordinated conservation as New Zealand teams continue satellite tagging efforts.