Florida’s Mysterious Manta Rays

With little known about the manta rays in Florida and only one published scientific paper about a single sighting, biologist Jessica Pate founded the Florida Manta Project, under the international non-profit Marine Megafauna Foundation in 2016.

The following summer, I moved back to Florida as a full-time freelancer photographer and writer, after finishing graduate school at UC Santa Cruz for science communication. I decided to take on manta rays of Florida as documentary project. I spent many days in the field searching for the rays with Jessica. The goal was and is to document the discoveries of Jessica’s research and create images used to raise awareness for manta ray management and conservation in Florida.

I had to take a break from this project for personal reasons for a couple years, but will begin working on it again this summer.

 Photography

Related Articles and Tearsheets

"The Florida Manta Project: Interview with Bethany Augliere" - Conversation Ocean, August 2017

"It's Kevin! Meet the young manta revealing new clues about his species" - Oceana, October 2017

"Mantas in Florida" - Scuba Diver Life magazine, January 2018

"Everyday Extinction is an Instagram -based reminder of human's damage to our animal friends" - Alphr, February 2018

"This Woman-Led Conservation Team is Protecting Gentle Giant Manta Rays"  - GOOD magazine, April 2018

“Majestic, Mysterious, the Elusive Manta Ray” - Vero Beach Portfolio Magazine, January/February Blue Issue 2020, Cover story