Honolulu Star-Advertiser © Susan Scott
December 1, 1997
Last ast week, while strolling through the Ala Wai Boat Harbor, a movement from the water caught my eye.
To my astonishment, there was a spotted eagle ray gracefully winging its way along the edge of the rocks, nibbling here, tasting there.
The truly amazing thing about this sighting was that the ray was in the scummy, trash-laden water of the inside harbor, nicknamed the Slough of Despond by my boater friend.
But the ray didn’t seem to care about the human garbage floating on the water’s surface. Its only interest was in eating what lay beneath it.
A few days later, I was telling an acquaintance about the unusual sighting.
“An eagle ray? What’s the difference between an eagle and a manta ray?” he asked.
“About 20 feet,” quipped a friend who was listening.
He was right.
But there are other differences, and some similarities, between Hawaii’s manta and eagle rays.
Mantas are, by far, the largest of all rays, growing to 20 feet across and weighing up to 3,000 pounds.
These rays differ from the other kinds in that mantas are the only ones that eat zooplankton, tiny animals that drift freely in the open ocean.
Watching manta rays eat is a sight to behold, and you don’t even have to get wet to do it.
Often, on dark, no-moon nights, the lights of several hotels along the Kona coast attract swarms of plankton, and therefore, mantas.
Swimming forward by flapping their huge pectoral fins, manta rays shovel this plankton into their open mouths using two flaps, one on each side of the mouth.
You can stand on shore and watch, or get into the water for a thrilling close-up view.
Swimming with manta rays doesn’t require much bravery because mantas are gentle, shy creatures that don’t have stingers on their tails.
Their bad reputation is undeserved and comes from old-time sailors who feared them because of their great size.
Unfortunately, the sailors’ dark nickname of devilfish stuck.
In contrast, spotted eagle rays are usually welcomed and admired by everyone who sees them.
These rays grow to about 6 feet across and sometimes swim together in a graceful group as they search the reef and ocean floor for snails, shrimp and crabs.
There are fewer sights more breathtaking than several of these rays together, looking like a formation of sparkling blue and white kites. Even spotting a small one, alone, is thrilling.
Eagle rays have extraordinarily long, thin tails, up to 18 feet long.
These tails have venomous stingers on them, but swimmers or waders rarely get close enough to get stung. Stings from eagle rays are mostly inflicted upon fishermen who haul the thrashing fish from the water by a line or spear.
Speaking of hauling rays from the water, a boat owner who years ago lived in the Ala Wai Harbor told me a sad story. He said people used to spear passing eagle rays for fun, then leave them flopping in the parking lot to die.
He said it happened often, and he believes it’s the reason there are so few rays around now.
Eagle and manta rays are different sizes and different colors, but their gentle natures are similar.
There is nothing to fear from these beautiful, odd-shaped fish.
Stingrays, on the other hand, have a quirk in their lifestyle that makes them harder for us humans to get along with.
Unlike eagle and manta rays, stingrays, when resting, lie motionless on the ocean floor, burying themselves in sand or mud. Getting stepped on by a human wader startles them, to say the least, and they drive their venomous stinger into the offending foot or ankle.
It hurts but is not lethal. Fortunately, stingrays are few and far between in Hawaii.