WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en-US 00:00:02.020 --> 00:00:11.240 -[Andy] Aloha everybody and welcome to the National Marine Sanctuaries Webinar Series 00:00:11.860 --> 00:00:16.800 and also the Kaua'i Ocean Discovery Webinar Series. 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:19.980 We're so very happy to have you today. 00:00:19.980 --> 00:00:27.140 We have over 566 participants today from countries all around the world. 00:00:27.140 --> 00:00:34.040 We have Sri Lanka, South Africa, Spain, Great Britain, all across the US... 00:00:34.420 --> 00:00:43.060 and we're up for a really great presentation today from Mark Deakos - who studies manta rays. 00:00:43.060 --> 00:00:45.640 So it's going to be really a very interesting presentation. 00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:50.340 But I want to give you a little bit of background about this program. 00:00:50.340 --> 00:00:57.360 and I also have Justin Umholtz with me from Papahānaumokuākea 00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:03.800 as well as Jean Souza from the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. 00:01:05.820 --> 00:01:32.080 So I want to show a short little video... [video does not play- technical error] 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:39.380 So again thank you for joining us. All listeners are in mute mode 00:01:39.380 --> 00:01:44.340 so if you do have questions please make sure to type them into the question box 00:01:45.080 --> 00:01:52.380 also if you do have any technical issues please also put them in either the chat or the question box 00:01:52.380 --> 00:01:59.120 and Justin will do his best to answer any audio issues or other issues you might have. 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:02.560 So thank you very much for for joining us. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:10.120 But our NOAA National Marine Sanctuary system stretches across the United States and into the Pacific. 00:02:10.500 --> 00:02:16.880 We have sites on the East Coast such as Stellwagen Bank, Monitor, Grayʻs Reef, Florida Keys... 00:02:16.880 --> 00:02:24.880 On the West Coast we have Olympic Coast, Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank, Monterey Bay, Channel Islands... 00:02:25.480 --> 00:02:31.200 and here where both Justin and I are, and Jean, out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:34.560 we have the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:39.680 and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. 00:02:40.320 --> 00:02:46.400 South of us we also have American Samoa, the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:53.430 and also another Marine National Monument in Rose Atoll. 00:02:53.920 --> 00:02:59.260 So we're spread across the country. We are your underwater parks in the United States. 00:03:00.540 --> 00:03:06.500 And we protect these areas for many different reasons, one of which is biodiversity. 00:03:07.020 --> 00:03:16.240 They are, they're very unique places for protecting unique sea life, unique habitats... 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:23.740 sponges, coral reefs, unique underwater habitats... 00:03:23.740 --> 00:03:28.280 They're also very unique for their maritime heritage. 00:03:28.580 --> 00:03:30.220 We have a lot of... 00:03:30.220 --> 00:03:35.920 some of our sites are almost dedicated to protection of maritime heritage, 00:03:35.920 --> 00:03:40.940 including in the site that both Justin and I work for, Papahānaumokuākea. 00:03:40.980 --> 00:03:49.820 We have a lot of 19th century whaling wrecks in this area that are nearly in pristine state. 00:03:50.720 --> 00:03:55.700 They also provide amazing habitat for very unique plants and animals, 00:03:55.700 --> 00:04:03.120 including these green sea turtles and Hawaiian monk seal, who are not practicing social distancing at all. 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:11.880 They are enjoying their time on the beach and sharing a wonderful time in Papahānaumokuākea. 00:04:12.760 --> 00:04:18.300 But National Marine Sanctuaries also does a lot of unique education, 00:04:18.300 --> 00:04:24.480 and we pride ourselves on teaching both youth and adults 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:28.720 about the uniqueness of these places and why we protect them. 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:35.000 And we do that through our outreach programs all across the country. 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:39.980 We have a whole suite of outreach programs around the world including this one. 00:04:39.980 --> 00:04:43.580 So we're very grateful to have you join us today. 00:04:43.580 --> 00:04:51.080 Through our research. We share our research through outreach and education and publications. 00:04:51.080 --> 00:04:56.256 Some of the most... because these sites are so incredibly unique 00:04:56.260 --> 00:05:02.560 we do get to have some very incredible research that's done in these areas, 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:07.480 including this in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary 00:05:07.480 --> 00:05:10.440 where they will do a lot of work with humpback whales. 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:15.520 We also monitor these sites for changes over time, 00:05:15.520 --> 00:05:25.140 through human changes, human induced changes, natural changes, climate change, other things, 00:05:25.140 --> 00:05:31.760 and we also have the opportunity to do research resource protection in these sites 00:05:31.760 --> 00:05:39.240 such as this really unique program in Florida Keys where they do out-planting of corals 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:46.240 to try to restore some of the reefs that have been damaged in those areas for a variety of different reasons, 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:57.280 one of which you know may be a ship strike or things like that. 00:05:57.280 --> 00:06:03.400 They're also places where you know we can connect with, connect with our soul, connect with our spirit, 00:06:03.400 --> 00:06:10.160 you know being an amazing beautiful place and rebuilt me and restore ourselves through these areas. 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:14.780 There are also amazing places for recreation such as kayaking on the California coast, 00:06:14.780 --> 00:06:20.540 diving across the system... perhaps not here in the Pacific in Papahānaumokuākea 00:06:23.180 --> 00:06:25.700 because it's so remote and so hard to get to, 00:06:25.700 --> 00:06:30.980 but in many of the other sites diving is a major recreational activity. 00:06:30.980 --> 00:06:36.980 And surfing. Out here in Hawaii it's much nicer to go surfing than Olympic Coast 00:06:36.980 --> 00:06:44.740 because the water is much warmer, but it's certainly beautiful, beautiful surfing out there 00:06:44.740 --> 00:06:50.660 in Oregon in Washington at the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. 00:06:51.520 --> 00:06:54.940 We also have a lot of wildlife viewing that goes on on our sites, 00:06:55.660 --> 00:07:02.127 and perhaps one of the greatest things is we engage so many people in our programs 00:07:02.127 --> 00:07:09.140 and through our volunteers, and we really pride ourselves in engaging as many people as possible 00:07:09.140 --> 00:07:11.600 in protection of these special places. 00:07:12.700 --> 00:07:17.340 So just real quickly as Jean and Justin, you have your your webcams on. 00:07:17.340 --> 00:07:24.560 These are your webinar hosts, myself Andy Collins, 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:30.310 I am the education coordinator here in Hawaii at Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. 00:07:30.310 --> 00:07:36.340 Justin is our Education Specialist at Mokupāpapa Discovery Center, 00:07:36.340 --> 00:07:45.860 and Jean who has, this is her program for her newly created, our newest discovery center on Kauaʻi, 00:07:45.860 --> 00:07:53.140 the Kauai Ocean Discovery. And this is, if you ever get a chance to to visit Kauaʻi, 00:07:53.140 --> 00:08:02.560 please take the opportunity to go visit, go visit Jean over in Kauaʻi at their amazing new discovery center. 00:08:03.220 --> 00:08:12.840 But today we are here to hear from Mark Deakos. I hope I'm pronouncing his name correctly. 00:08:12.840 --> 00:08:21.000 He's done a lot of work throughout his life in many different, many different opportunities 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:30.380 He hails from Montreal, Canada. He's always being connected to marine life 00:08:30.380 --> 00:08:39.640 and the marine waters, and research of seabirds, and manta rays and many other marine marine organisms. 00:08:40.040 --> 00:08:46.160 He came to Hawaiʻi in 1996 at the University of Hawaiʻi. 00:08:46.160 --> 00:08:51.500 He completed his master's degree studying humpback whales and his doctoral degree in 2010. 00:08:51.500 --> 00:08:57.260 And then he discovered a very great passion for manta rays, 00:08:57.260 --> 00:09:01.280 and developed an entire organization for the study of them. 00:09:01.280 --> 00:09:08.680 As some of you may know, one of the most famous dives we have in the world is a manta ray dive, 00:09:08.680 --> 00:09:16.055 and in Kona, on the coast of the Big Island, and so many people are connected with manta rays 00:09:16.055 --> 00:09:22.820 and have been taught how to interact with manta rays and how not to... 00:09:22.820 --> 00:09:28.560 Sometimes its, we're in the process of going through some studies on how best to interact with these animals 00:09:28.560 --> 00:09:35.220 and not cause harm to them. And so Mark, I'm sure, will go into some detail on that during his studies, 00:09:35.220 --> 00:09:41.620 but I really look forward to having him with us here today. So thank you so much for joining us 00:09:41.620 --> 00:09:44.760 and I'm going to turn it over to to Mark. 00:10:03.480 --> 00:10:07.010 -[Justin] Mark I believe you're still muted. 00:10:18.620 --> 00:10:30.320 -[Andy] Okay let's make sure...there. Okay you should be good now Mark. 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:43.380 -[Mark] Okay, I think itʻs on now. Are we good? 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:46.400 -[Andy] We are good. 00:10:46.620 --> 00:10:51.600 -[Mark] Okay, you guys can see my screen okay? 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:56.760 -[Andy] Yep. Just put in presentation mode and you should be ready to go. 00:10:56.760 --> 00:11:00.080 -[Mark] Okay, sorry about that. A little tech glitch on the mutes. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:06.020 Thank you guys so much for having me and to this amazing program that NOAA puts on. 00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:13.340 And thanks to Jean Souza. Congratulations out there in Kauaʻi on your new center, 00:11:13.340 --> 00:11:19.660 and thank you for inviting me to do this today, and Justin and Andy for all your help. 00:11:19.660 --> 00:11:27.200 So let's dive right in and hopefully I get you guys all jazzed up about Hawaii's manta rays 00:11:27.540 --> 00:11:33.420 For those of you not familiar with Hawaiʻi we're kind of isolated out here in the middle of Pacific, 00:11:33.560 --> 00:11:40.680 several thousand kilometers from the continental East and West. 00:11:40.680 --> 00:11:48.020 We're about 20 degrees north latitude of the equatorial line and as we just mentioned, 00:11:48.020 --> 00:11:57.380 if there's any relation of mantas to Hawai'i, it usually links to their world-renowned Manta night dive or snorkel 00:11:57.480 --> 00:12:06.020 that's been happening for the last three decades. Pretty amazing event if you haven't had the opportunity to do it. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:11.260 And that happens off the Kona Coast of the Big Island, the Island of Hawai'i. 00:12:11.260 --> 00:12:17.140 But I'm going to introduce you to the lesser known population to the north, here on Maui, 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:24.780 and when I talk about Maui, I'm referring to the four island region of Moloka'i, Lana'i, Kaho'olawe, 00:12:24.780 --> 00:12:31.760 known as Maui Nui, and often is treated by various species as a single island 00:12:31.760 --> 00:12:39.080 because of the shallow areas in between. It's also predominantly the area of the Humpback Whale 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:47.540 National Marine Sanctuary, so every year we get the majority of our whales in that area as well. 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:58.780 So here is Tala, this is our most famous Maui manta ray. She's a beauty, and I met her in 2017 00:12:58.780 --> 00:13:07.540 off of one of her favorite places, this is the Honolua Bay on West Maui. We've had about 33 sightings of her, 00:13:07.700 --> 00:13:15.860 and she's unique in many ways not just, we love our manta rays, but she has a unique behavior 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:21.740 where she goes inverted. A lot of species will do that to get both eyes on you get that depth perception. 00:13:22.020 --> 00:13:30.980 She does it almost like her signature. I'm sure a lot of the folks watching today have experienced that face-to-face 00:13:30.980 --> 00:13:37.280 with her glowing belly, staring in her eyes. Quite, quite an amazing encounter 00:13:37.280 --> 00:13:40.660 that I hope we continue to be able to have into the future. 00:13:40.660 --> 00:13:45.160 But a bit, based on all the research we've done and everything we know, 00:13:45.160 --> 00:13:51.740 I still struggle with the question of can we ensure Tala's survival? 00:13:51.740 --> 00:13:59.920 And I don't mean just against natural predators but against us and the obstacles we put in place. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:03.500 So I will address that a little bit throughout this talk. 00:14:03.820 --> 00:14:12.180 I came here in Hawai'i in 1996 pursuing a master's on humpback whales, 00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:18.080 and was actually continuing on to do PhD with humpbacks, 00:14:18.520 --> 00:14:24.200 but my church was down here, this place called Olowalu or Ukumehame Beach Park. 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:26.260 I had heard there was mantas there so 00:14:26.260 --> 00:14:30.500 I'd love to get underwater and see what's going on there, and sure enough 00:14:31.060 --> 00:14:36.800 there were mantas at a cleaning station just off shore. 00:14:36.800 --> 00:14:42.740 So I really got interested in them, tried to find out more information, 00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:46.540 but this was back in 2005, very little existed. 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:53.960 Dr. Clarke was doing his work, Tim Clark, primarily on the Big Island, a little bit out here, 00:14:53.960 --> 00:15:00.220 but him and a couple other people in the world were the only folks learning about manta rays at that time. 00:15:00.220 --> 00:15:05.680 So I asked my adviser Dr. Lou Lehrman if I could switch to studying the mantas... 00:15:05.680 --> 00:15:09.172 He said go for it. The rest is history. 00:15:09.172 --> 00:15:11.500 So the best way to take me through all this stuff we've done learned in the last 15 years, 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:26.370 is take you underwater with me. So we're gonna switch to a video here and I'll walk you through the video. 00:15:34.680 --> 00:15:39.020 So most of the video focuses on... 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:45.740 the Maui manta raised here and some unique behaviors that we see here, 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:51.120 but I will refer to some footage that I've taken in other parts of the world as well 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:57.800 that have their unique situations there. 00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:05.880 -[Andy] Is it showing? Do you see it? 00:16:07.040 --> 00:16:09.440 -[Mark] I'm not seeing the video. Yeah. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:14.620 -[Andy] Okay, hold on for one second. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:22.740 -[Mark] So while the video comes up, we do have two species of manta rays here in Hawai'i. 00:16:23.160 --> 00:16:28.600 I'm going to focus on we call the reef associated ones, so they're the more residents, 00:16:30.540 --> 00:16:36.760 and then we also have the pelagic species that is less common. 00:16:37.140 --> 00:16:41.440 We have about seventy eight in our catalog that have been sighted, 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:48.360 usually on deepwater ledges off the Big Island you see it a lot, 00:16:49.400 --> 00:16:54.640 Molokini are good places and around O'ahu, a few select places. 00:16:56.260 --> 00:17:04.540 So if you have questions about, we'll call it the Manta or Mobula birostrus, which is the pelagic endangered listed, 00:17:04.540 --> 00:17:07.980 I can answer those questions at the end. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:10.440 -[Andy] Are you seeing it now? 00:17:12.140 --> 00:17:13.260 -[Mark] I am not. 00:17:13.420 --> 00:17:21.860 Oh you know what, I apologize I think I'm in my I have to close out of my viewer. 00:17:23.300 --> 00:17:32.280 Okay I'm seeing your computer screen. My apologies, I was, I had my presentation in front. 00:17:35.260 --> 00:17:36.080 -[Andy] Okay 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:45.740 But you're seeing that the Manta now, hopefully [chuckling]. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:56.360 -[Justin] No Andy, it's actually not. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:07.400 -[Mark] I saw your screen briefly and it went away. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:14.180 -[Andy] Okay. 00:18:15.340 --> 00:18:22.500 -[Justin] Andy, let me see if I can just share my screen and do it and if that doesn't work we can move on. 00:18:33.040 --> 00:18:35.920 -[Mark] Okay it's coming up now 00:18:37.980 --> 00:18:41.020 -[Justin] I'm going to go ahead and play it. 00:18:41.020 --> 00:18:50.620 -[Mark] Okay, so this is basically, we're at that beach where I showed you, offshore, this is Olowalu reef. 00:18:50.980 --> 00:18:59.220 It's actually a Mission Blue Hope Spot now, and this is one area in Maui we you can reliably see mantas. 00:18:59.340 --> 00:19:09.200 So in order to study manta rays you have to be able to encounter them in a reliable way, 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:12.260 and the only time you're going to see them congregated 00:19:12.260 --> 00:19:17.160 is around cleaning stations, food, and reproductive behaviors. 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:23.400 So, in Kona it's mainly the feeding areas that people visit them, 00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:28.160 and here off of Olowalu it's mainly the cleaning station, 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:31.780 so a little bit jittery, but we'll get through it. 00:19:31.780 --> 00:19:39.840 The two main species of wrasse they're visiting there, just like the turtles do, to have parasites removed. 00:19:40.380 --> 00:19:45.980 The saddle wrasses will work on the outside of the body and those bright colored yellow and blue, 00:19:45.980 --> 00:19:51.760 those are the Hawaiian cleaner wrasse they tend to go inside the mouth, inside the gills. 00:19:51.980 --> 00:19:55.360 And manta rays are what we often call devil rays, 00:19:55.360 --> 00:20:00.620 you see those large cephalic fins, remember that word cephalic fins, 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:06.580 in the front of their mouth that helps guide the water and the plankton, they're plankton eaters, 00:20:06.580 --> 00:20:14.740 into their mouth, filter out those little bits of plankton, and feed onto that. 00:20:15.660 --> 00:20:23.360 So the other time Oluwalu is pretty unique in the world, where we often see reproductive behaviors. 00:20:23.360 --> 00:20:30.880 So this is usually in the form of a train, where there's a large, the females are larger than the males on average 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:38.780 so you'll have this large female leading this trail of males sometimes up to 30 animals, 00:20:40.140 --> 00:20:47.120 and you'll notice the spots on their belly, those are unique spots to each manta ray, 00:20:47.120 --> 00:20:54.641 you photograph that just like a whale's tail we can catalog those individuals 00:20:54.641 --> 00:21:02.820 and what's great about the females is, because they're larger there you never see the harassment by the males, 00:21:02.820 --> 00:21:08.180 she's in full control and she's often curious while she's being pursued, 00:21:08.180 --> 00:21:13.020 and she'll come swim right over the diver which is great when you're getting photo IDs 00:21:13.020 --> 00:21:18.420 because you get every single individual come over your head in a row 00:21:18.420 --> 00:21:23.880 without having to do any work and snap those underside shots of their bellies 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:30.360 so I know which individuals are there and I can look for the claspers that exist in the males. 00:21:30.360 --> 00:21:35.800 If those claspers extend beyond the pelvic fin, I know that's a mature male. 00:21:35.800 --> 00:21:44.540 So on a mating train like this these will be all mature males following that female. 00:21:44.540 --> 00:21:52.200 Now I've seen a lot of mating behavior but I've never actually seen mating itself. It has been captured, 00:21:52.340 --> 00:22:01.640 it's very rare, and that's where a male will actually bite down on the females left generally left pectoral fin, 00:22:01.640 --> 00:22:06.340 loop itself around and insert one of those claspers into her cloaca. 00:22:06.920 --> 00:22:13.320 So rare behavior you see all the courtship but very rarely do you see the mating itself. 00:22:14.280 --> 00:22:19.680 The gestation period is 12 months, so they'll pup in these shallow bays. 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:23.520 We don't know a lot about these pupping areas 00:22:25.260 --> 00:22:34.860 but yes, you can tell the females are mature basically by looking for the bulge, we'll see some pictures... 00:22:34.860 --> 00:22:42.460 They have a single pup they give birth to every two to three years after a 12 month gestation period. 00:22:42.860 --> 00:22:48.280 So if you know a lot about the humpbacks you basically replicate everything with the mantas 00:22:48.280 --> 00:22:54.830 the mating, although the males aren't fighting, that's in you know humpback males will fight 00:22:54.830 --> 00:23:07.940 just to show their fitness to the female. Here we think it's rivalry where these mating trains can go on for days 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:12.760 and probably if you can stay with her the entire time, 00:23:12.760 --> 00:23:17.080 I don't know how much feeding goes on that might be indicative of her fitness. 00:23:17.080 --> 00:23:23.860 So how she chooses is unknown. This is a pregnant female that's being pursued. 00:23:23.860 --> 00:23:28.640 You want to ask why would a pregnant female being pursued? 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:36.080 Well we know in captivity where the only births that have been filmed have been in captivity, 00:23:36.080 --> 00:23:47.559 we've seen the males mate with her immediately after birth. So this female is late-term and very close. 00:23:47.560 --> 00:23:58.200 She's bulging out on both sides very close to giving birth. That's probably why they're detecting she may be ready. 00:23:59.080 --> 00:24:05.400 So she may urinate defecate too, these females that provide a lot of chemical cues in the water 00:24:05.840 --> 00:24:09.800 that these males are picking up as they swim behind her. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:16.720 Now feeding, I have not for 10 years I never saw feeding here in Maui which was interesting. 00:24:17.260 --> 00:24:25.140 But we see it on the Big Island, that's the famous right here at nights they bring in the lights, 00:24:25.140 --> 00:24:31.570 the lights attract a lot of the plankton, and you'll get these manta rays barrel-rolling 00:24:32.040 --> 00:24:39.120 basically looping through these balls of plankton right in front of your face 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:47.160 and for some of the largest animals, you know they can reach thousand pounds, 00:24:47.760 --> 00:24:52.880 our females here reach twelve feet in width, the male's get to about ten feet. 00:24:53.520 --> 00:24:59.020 This is some feeding that I was observing down in Ponape 00:24:59.300 --> 00:25:05.620 where the food is scattered throughout the water column and they're moving up and down 00:25:05.620 --> 00:25:10.500 doing these barrel rolls. You'll see their cephalic fins opened up 00:25:12.060 --> 00:25:16.657 compared to when they're in a mating train they'll be rolled up... 00:25:16.657 --> 00:25:21.617 So here's where the food is actually in a current line that's in a thin layer 00:25:21.617 --> 00:25:29.380 so you get what looks like a mating train but it's actually a feeding train. 00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:33.200 This is in an atoll in Micronesia, Ulithi Atoll, 00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:38.280 and they're actually doing vertical feeding. They're coming all the way up with their mouths open 00:25:38.280 --> 00:25:44.360 and then back all the way down to the bottom because all that food is spread out throughout the water column, 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:47.800 in this particular situation. 00:25:50.860 --> 00:25:57.400 Sometimes you'll see other critters feeding on the same plankton, zooplantkon. 00:25:57.400 --> 00:26:04.860 So here are the fusiliers and we know the mantas are gonna be showing up when these schools of fusiliers 00:26:04.860 --> 00:26:07.300 start bubbling at the surface. 00:26:07.960 --> 00:26:15.000 And so the mantas aren't actually targeting the fish, but the food that the fish are also targeting. 00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:25.140 And this is on Panape, very interesting as the tide shifts, they'll go from feeding to visiting the cleaning stations 00:26:25.140 --> 00:26:28.180 and then when the tide shifts again, they'll go back to feeding. 00:26:28.860 --> 00:26:36.340 If the plankton is laying arrayed a thin layer at the surface in a current line you'll get this ramjet feeding. 00:26:36.740 --> 00:26:48.020 You'll see this in Kona on the daytime. I've seen it a bit of Maui here, and this is actually in Ulithi... 00:26:48.620 --> 00:26:54.740 and yeah, if you're in the water when they're feeding they really just want you to get out of the way, 00:26:54.740 --> 00:26:56.760 they're very focused. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:04.900 Now Guam, my colleague Julie Hartup, who's done her PhD work there, 00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:11.460 found a very interesting phenomenon. These manta rays would gather certain times around the full moon 00:27:11.460 --> 00:27:18.300 that correlated with fish spawning events. So right after, right before the fish would spawn, 00:27:18.300 --> 00:27:27.140 the manta rays would start showing up, and all a sudden, just before sunset, these milk clouds of coral spawn, 00:27:27.320 --> 00:27:33.640 sorry, fish spawn, would dominate the surface of the water this big milk cloud and they would be feeding. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:43.880 So to do research on mantas like I said, you capture that photo that unique identifying feature. 00:27:43.880 --> 00:27:46.700 You can check to see if they're male or female, 00:27:46.700 --> 00:27:52.738 and we put that into our catalog. We're getting photos from different islands 00:27:53.180 --> 00:28:00.840 that helped contribute to our catalog which is now almost 500 unique individuals for Maui alone. 00:28:01.360 --> 00:28:06.940 If you can get a pair of lasers get them perfectly parallel you can use that to measure the size. 00:28:06.940 --> 00:28:12.840 That's what I'm doing here. I know those are 60 centimeters apart, those two green dots, 00:28:13.360 --> 00:28:19.860 and then we can collect genetic samples and put tags on manta rays. 00:28:19.860 --> 00:28:29.380 So two other techniques that provide us with lots of information. But after 10 years of studying at Olowalu, 00:28:29.380 --> 00:28:38.660 I never had the little ones, the young of the population I could not find, until I got a call one day in 2015, 00:28:38.660 --> 00:28:45.740 in Maalaea Harbor, they had a young manta in there feeding. I managed to get in, get some IDs. 00:28:45.740 --> 00:28:51.740 This is Noelani... and she was feeding right there in the murky waters, 00:28:52.080 --> 00:29:00.940 and when I sized her, she happened to be one of the, the actual smallest manta that I have ever measured. 00:29:01.020 --> 00:29:06.580 So my first glimpse into the segregated part of the population, 00:29:06.580 --> 00:29:10.920 the young, the newborns, and the young immatures. 00:29:11.280 --> 00:29:15.160 And then two years later I started getting calls from South Maui 00:29:15.160 --> 00:29:18.860 about manta rays showing up regularly down there. 00:29:19.080 --> 00:29:24.120 And regularly enough I was able to get down there and have a look for myself, 00:29:24.120 --> 00:29:31.900 and sure enough there was are all that, part of the population for ten years I never captured. 00:29:32.280 --> 00:29:41.050 And I sized them all. These were all young individuals. So it appears based on some tagging data I was able to, 00:29:41.050 --> 00:29:49.980 because I saw them feeding down there, to tow a plankton net and we captured all those little critters 00:29:50.440 --> 00:29:55.980 that you can't really see but once you run the net in they turn this red... 00:29:55.980 --> 00:30:00.960 you see this red color, you put it on the microscope and you see all these copepods. 00:30:01.100 --> 00:30:08.280 So this is what they're targeting primarily here in Hawai'i, and I put some tags on these guys 00:30:08.280 --> 00:30:12.440 and they were staying very close to that South Maui Maalaea Harbor, 00:30:12.740 --> 00:30:20.859 which is very likely the pupping area Maalaea Bay. So a big breakthrough after ten years. 00:30:21.580 --> 00:30:25.780 Now when you spend this much time underwater there is a dark side. 00:30:25.780 --> 00:30:31.560 You're going to see the impacts that we're having on these populations. 00:30:32.100 --> 00:30:42.780 One of the big threats is entanglement. So lots of mantas dragging fishing line, primarily ulua fishing line. 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:48.020 These are shore casting gear that you get a lot at night, during the night time 00:30:48.020 --> 00:30:51.888 when they're cruising those coastlines they wrap up in that gear 00:30:51.888 --> 00:30:55.580 and it can wind tight and cut through the cephalic fin. 00:30:55.580 --> 00:31:00.980 And unfortunately, about 10% of my mantas have damaged cepahlic fins. 00:31:01.260 --> 00:31:08.120 Boat strikes, you see this boat actually running right over a manta there, that is of concern, 00:31:08.120 --> 00:31:16.620 and as we harden our shorelines and change the natural components of our shorelines, 00:31:16.620 --> 00:31:25.580 we're contributing to sedimentation. As we manipulate the landscape with impervious surfaces 00:31:25.580 --> 00:31:31.160 and remove the natural vegetation, we're having a huge problem with runoff, 00:31:32.820 --> 00:31:40.020 sediment that's running into our coastlines full of pesticides, herbicides, all kinds of petrochemicals 00:31:40.020 --> 00:31:43.120 that are wreaking havoc on our reefs. 00:31:43.120 --> 00:31:49.340 And these are reef associated manta rays so indirectly as the reef dies, 00:31:49.340 --> 00:31:55.600 as the reefs gets smothered with all this runoff that we don't manage our storm water, 00:31:56.040 --> 00:32:03.780 it's having an impact, and we've lost 50% of our reefs here in Maui and Hawa'ii in the last two decades alone. 00:32:04.300 --> 00:32:10.690 And as a big charge to develop whatever open space is left. So all these are questions we have, 00:32:11.540 --> 00:32:14.800 you know how is this going to impact the future of Tala, 00:32:15.140 --> 00:32:20.600 and are we doing what we can in order to protect her future 00:32:22.080 --> 00:32:24.720 and her offspring's future? 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:32.080 So I'll take it back to the slides if you can hand me control. 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:36.080 If you want to do a poll right now that might be a good time 00:32:36.980 --> 00:32:41.740 -[Justin] Alright Mark, I just gave you control back and I'm going to launch the first poll. 00:32:43.620 --> 00:32:48.480 Folks you should be seeing on your screen a little quick poll that says, 00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:53.080 "What do you call the two fins that guide food and water into their mouths?" 00:32:53.900 --> 00:33:02.200 So you can go ahead and click on that. Hopefully you can see that. 00:33:02.200 --> 00:33:07.780 Yeah, it looks like we're getting votes. We've got 55-60 percent of people are voted. 00:33:07.780 --> 00:33:17.560 I'm gonna give you a little bit more time...65% have voted...so let's go ahead you have another 5 seconds 00:33:17.560 --> 00:33:31.540 then I'm going to close the poll, so make your guess. All right I'm... three, two, one, now. 00:33:32.320 --> 00:33:37.720 Alright so I'm gonna share the results. Mark, can you see this? sometimes presenters can, sometimes they can't. 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:42.069 -[Mark] Yep, 93% got it right. They're paying attention. 00:33:42.069 --> 00:33:49.840 -[Justin] Alright, so I'm going to go ahead and hide this and you'll just need to pop your slideshow back forward. 00:33:53.380 --> 00:33:57.240 -[Mark] Okay, are you able to see? 00:33:58.600 --> 00:34:00.560 -[Justin] Not quite yet. 00:34:01.240 --> 00:34:03.820 -[Mark] Okay I'll give it a [inaudible] 00:34:24.900 --> 00:34:29.940 -[Justin] Is anybody else...Andy can you take a look and see if you see it? I'm still seeing the quick poll. 00:34:30.560 --> 00:34:35.640 I think our internet connections here on Hawai'i Island are causing us a little bit of trouble sorry. 00:34:35.820 --> 00:34:41.920 -[Andy] Yeah, I see 93 percent say cephalic fins, so pretty much... 00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:46.700 -[Justin] Mark's trying to bring up his presentation again. 00:34:46.700 --> 00:34:59.400 -[Andy] Oh sorry. Let's see here...make sure...give me a minute...Mark. 00:35:10.020 --> 00:35:15.580 -[Justin] Mark, while we're waiting, you had a question. Who's working on mantas on O'ahu? 00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:26.880 -[Mark] That's a great question. I'm hoping somebody will start that soon. So very little known about O'ahu 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:35.720 and Kaua'i. We have very little information, so we're starting to look at some grad students 00:35:35.720 --> 00:35:45.680 or possibly get the dive folks there, the people that are in the water regularly, to participate in some collaboration 00:35:45.680 --> 00:35:49.500 or providing photos so that we can start building catalogs, 00:35:49.500 --> 00:35:56.900 but yeah, there's some interesting stuff going on on O'ahu that we'd love to get a better handle on. 00:35:57.560 --> 00:36:03.400 -[Justin] Right. You have control so I believe you're just going to need to check your screen again. 00:36:03.700 --> 00:36:08.440 -[Mark] Okay gonna pause it and then show it again see if that helps. 00:36:11.220 --> 00:36:13.860 -[Justin] Sorry about this folks, thanks for your patience. 00:36:25.120 --> 00:36:29.900 -[Mark] You want to take control and hand it off to me again see if that works. 00:36:30.080 --> 00:36:31.400 -[Justin] Yeah, let me do that. 00:36:36.140 --> 00:36:41.620 All right, going back to you. And if this doesn't work I will pull up your presentation myself. 00:36:49.660 --> 00:36:56.900 -[Andy] Yea,h there you go. Then just switch over to presentation mode. 00:36:56.900 --> 00:36:58.980 -[Mark] Yeah we love technology when it works. 00:36:58.980 --> 00:37:07.580 -[Andy] [Laughing] Today has been challenging. 00:37:07.820 --> 00:37:11.680 Just to recap a little bit what we learned from the photo ID work 00:37:11.680 --> 00:37:16.320 we have over almost 500 individuals in our Maui catalog now. 00:37:17.040 --> 00:37:26.140 Based on those photo IDs about half are females, two-thirds are mature animals 00:37:26.380 --> 00:37:30.200 and we have a high re-sight rate, so we know they're hanging around, 00:37:30.220 --> 00:37:33.158 we see them over and over again within years and across years. 00:37:33.158 --> 00:37:38.585 So they are definitely resident. And we've matched these photos to other neighboring islands 00:37:38.585 --> 00:37:40.060 in the four island region, so we know that's their home range. 00:37:40.060 --> 00:37:44.960 However, our famous Big Island population, we have not matched any to this group. 00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:51.380 This is only 46 kilometers away, 30 miles away, well within the range of reef mantas 00:37:51.380 --> 00:38:01.390 sometimes traveling 500 kilometers in places like Australia and the Maldives. 00:38:01.390 --> 00:38:05.400 So within their range, but we're not seeing it in Hawai'i. 00:38:05.400 --> 00:38:07.300 We follow their menu... 00:38:07.300 --> 00:38:16.340 -[Andy] Mark I think you switched over to your presentation mode we're just seeing your full slide set up so... 00:38:17.800 --> 00:38:20.820 ...put into presentation mode. 00:38:21.380 --> 00:38:24.220 -[Mark] Okay, I was, 00:38:24.220 --> 00:38:27.380 -[Andy] Here we go! yeah. 00:38:27.380 --> 00:38:31.020 -[Mark] You're seeing the presentation mode now? 00:38:33.080 --> 00:38:35.300 -[Andy] Yeah it's better. 00:38:35.980 --> 00:38:37.360 -[Mark] That's better than this? 00:38:47.400 --> 00:38:49.260 Are we okay? 00:38:49.880 --> 00:38:53.160 -[Andy] That's it, there we go. you got it. 00:38:53.580 --> 00:38:59.160 -[Mark] Alright, and if we track the pregnancies, we know every two to three years they're giving birth, 00:38:59.160 --> 00:39:03.860 but that critical pupping habitat, we're still trying to get a handle on. 00:39:04.180 --> 00:39:12.180 Of the 11 satellite tags we've deployed, we get that confirming information 00:39:12.180 --> 00:39:18.480 they're moving throughout Maui Nui, but not outside. 00:39:18.480 --> 00:39:23.600 And the deepest dive, we're learning a lot about their diving and foraging habitats, 00:39:23.600 --> 00:39:27.420 we got dives beyond a thousand feet in depth. 00:39:27.420 --> 00:39:33.420 Now the genetics, this is some of the latest findings that are very very interesting 00:39:33.420 --> 00:39:39.940 and I want shout out to Dr. Whitney and Dr. Coleman who have been doing the analysis, 00:39:39.940 --> 00:39:48.980 they shared this with me recently. I provided them with 20 genetic samples from Kona and Maui's populations. 00:39:48.980 --> 00:39:57.060 So 40 in total. And they looked at 459 random genome sites on there, compared. 00:39:57.060 --> 00:40:03.540 And he looked at nuclear DNA, that's DNA that's we get from both parents or mother and father, 00:40:03.540 --> 00:40:10.340 and they also looked at mitochondrial DNA which is only inherited from the mother's side. 00:40:10.340 --> 00:40:17.740 And essentially you throw these 40 samples in a pot and you ask the software to say, 00:40:17.740 --> 00:40:21.880 Does this look like it's all coming from one population? 00:40:21.880 --> 00:40:27.320 And in fact it said no, it looks like there's two genetically separate populations here 00:40:27.320 --> 00:40:29.700 a Kona and a Maui population. 00:40:30.060 --> 00:40:39.380 and this nuclear result, that f0, that suggests based on how distinct those populations are, 00:40:39.380 --> 00:40:46.920 it suggests that that would occur if a male was switching between islands every 50 to 150 years. 00:40:46.920 --> 00:40:54.760 So that's how rare the the interaction, the connectivity is, and if we look at the matrilineal, 00:40:54.760 --> 00:41:03.700 it's even more evident that the females are sticking to their home bases. 00:41:03.700 --> 00:41:12.640 So to get this sort of result we would expect a female moving between the islands every 500 to 1500 years. 00:41:12.640 --> 00:41:19.680 So this is significant. These are small populations. when we look at the movement, 00:41:19.680 --> 00:41:24.521 we see that it's probably from when it happens, the rare times it happens, 00:41:24.521 --> 00:41:28.640 the male is probably coming from West Hawai'i over to Maui. 00:41:28.640 --> 00:41:33.500 West Hawaii with a more pure bred stock there. 00:41:33.500 --> 00:41:40.380 Now amazingly with these 40 samples they can estimate an effective population size. 00:41:40.380 --> 00:41:47.780 So to get that kind of genetic diversity they can predict or estimate how many breeding adults. 00:41:47.780 --> 00:41:52.400 So these are the mature adults that are contributing to the next generation. 00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:57.440 And they estimate a hundred and five in the Kona population, which is 00:41:58.120 --> 00:42:03.200 amazingly close to our total estimated population of about three hundred. 00:42:03.200 --> 00:42:10.100 And they estimate about a hundred and thirty-four. So these are these breeding adults. 00:42:10.460 --> 00:42:17.300 And we estimate about five hundred here. So this all aligns with what we thought is happening. 00:42:17.800 --> 00:42:29.160 But it does raise a red flag. If you only have a hundred breeding animals that you rely on for the next generation 00:42:29.160 --> 00:42:37.380 for that population to perpetuate itself, it doesn't take much, especially for a very slow growing population, 00:42:37.380 --> 00:42:44.040 they're late to mature. If they're met with threats of entanglement and boat strikes 00:42:44.040 --> 00:42:50.500 we know the acidifying that are impacting plankton their, primary food source, 00:42:50.500 --> 00:42:57.220 we haven't even talked about microplastics which now almost as abundant as plankton. 00:42:57.220 --> 00:42:59.700 What is that doing to them? 00:43:00.400 --> 00:43:06.920 And the declining reefs based on poor water quality. So in the face of all of these threats 00:43:07.560 --> 00:43:14.780 how does your population of 100, are they able to withstand that? And that's a big concern. 00:43:14.780 --> 00:43:21.540 And how does that apply to Tala? What do we know in Talas' three to four years we've met her? 00:43:21.540 --> 00:43:27.640 We know she's lost her tail in that amount of time, probably a predatory event, not a big deal, 00:43:27.640 --> 00:43:33.000 a lot of them lose that. She's got new jewelry because she's got an embedded ulua hook 00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:39.060 in the upper lip of her right part of her mouth. Hard to see there, it's covered in algae. 00:43:39.060 --> 00:43:45.080 And she's got a pretty large gash in her left pectoral fin since we saw her in 2018, 00:43:45.700 --> 00:43:50.660 probably monofilament line and entanglement that she survived fortunately, 00:43:50.660 --> 00:43:53.680 that had begun to cut through and penetrate. 00:43:53.680 --> 00:44:00.280 So in her short life, about three years, she's already been battling these stresses. 00:44:00.280 --> 00:44:07.460 And the question is, you know, can she battle another five years and survive to have her first pup? 00:44:08.080 --> 00:44:14.799 So remember that beautiful beach where I first started my surveys back in 2005? 00:44:15.140 --> 00:44:20.360 Well back then I was averaging about six manta rays per dive, 00:44:20.360 --> 00:44:27.160 and today I may be, find a manta one every 20 dives. 00:44:27.660 --> 00:44:33.360 So there's a huge decline in sighting rates, that doesn't necessarily mean the population itself is declining, 00:44:33.360 --> 00:44:39.240 they may be moving to other areas, but it does raise some concerns. 00:44:39.240 --> 00:44:48.600 And so this question of can we insure Tala's survival is a big question that we need to keep be mindful of, 00:44:49.020 --> 00:44:56.160 so that her offspring can survive and we can continue to engage and have those amazing encounters. 00:44:56.160 --> 00:45:03.440 So am I optimistic for the future based on everything I said and given the state of affairs? 00:45:03.440 --> 00:45:07.950 I'm actually gonna tell you I am optimistic. 00:45:08.780 --> 00:45:16.500 I'm very optimistic for the following reason. I think right now in 2020, I call it the year of perfect vision. 00:45:16.500 --> 00:45:23.460 I think, this is it, this is the decade where we have no choice but to make change. 00:45:23.460 --> 00:45:30.840 This is the last decade we have not to avoid but to mitigate what is already on our doorstep. 00:45:30.840 --> 00:45:39.480 And there are three basic 3 fads that are happening right now that give me that hope, 00:45:39.600 --> 00:45:47.280 and I'm gonna walk you through those three: Living buildings, living products and B-Corps. 00:45:47.640 --> 00:45:54.080 So let's talk about these a little bit. Living buildings, what is a living building or living community? 00:45:54.080 --> 00:46:01.300 It's a philosophy, it's a framework, it's a certification for regenerative growth. 00:46:01.300 --> 00:46:09.140 Ok why is that important? It's important because it's not just building less bad, it's not just designing less bad, 00:46:09.140 --> 00:46:14.800 it's designing for a net positive impact on society and the environment. 00:46:15.160 --> 00:46:23.540 And these are building being built across the nation. Instead of using less fossil fuels they don't use any. 00:46:23.540 --> 00:46:34.480 Instead of creating less waste they reuse, repurpose, they make more energy, clean energy then they use. 00:46:34.660 --> 00:46:40.820 They capture and treat all water on-site, they produce food on-site, they restore native habitat, 00:46:40.970 --> 00:46:47.020 manage that stormwater. They use only sustainable and knocked on non-toxic materials 00:46:47.020 --> 00:46:54.100 that promotes the health of its residents. They embrace equity and beauty. 00:46:54.520 --> 00:46:59.920 Okay, instead of being less bad this is a way of healing, as we grow. 00:46:59.920 --> 00:47:06.880 As restoring regenerating those ecosystem functions that we have damaged, that we've broken. 00:47:06.880 --> 00:47:13.400 And these are beautiful buildings, and guess what, they're doing them at the cost of regular design. 00:47:13.400 --> 00:47:19.300 So if they're not talking about these in your neighborhood, learn about living buildings. 00:47:19.300 --> 00:47:26.700 The same applies to living products. Okay when we make things we use about 350 polymers. 00:47:27.240 --> 00:47:34.420 We extract it out of the ground, these ingredients. We heat treat them with toxic carcinogenic chemicals, 00:47:34.420 --> 00:47:37.500 they persist in the environment, they pollute. 00:47:37.500 --> 00:47:42.800 Every other living organism on the planet uses five polymers. 00:47:42.800 --> 00:47:51.660 Okay? Four billion years and almost over ten million species, they figured out how to do all the things 00:47:51.660 --> 00:47:59.480 we're trying to figure out, but they do it in a way that doesn't toxify the next generation. 00:47:59.480 --> 00:48:08.080 So living products is emulating nature, looking at nature, and how have they figured out how to solve problems 00:48:08.080 --> 00:48:16.340 without jeopardizing the next generation. And this is taking off now, where products from manufacturing, 00:48:16.340 --> 00:48:23.760 from consumption, from end-of-life, have a net positive impact on society and the environment. 00:48:23.760 --> 00:48:28.940 And lastly B-Corps, previously known as beneficial corporations, 00:48:29.260 --> 00:48:33.600 there's more than three thousand across the globe in 50 countries, 00:48:33.600 --> 00:48:38.440 and they're turning their companies into a force for good. 00:48:38.440 --> 00:48:44.980 They're diligently eliminating all of their social and environmental impacts 00:48:44.980 --> 00:48:50.200 that are direct or indirect caused by their business. 00:48:50.200 --> 00:48:55.900 And the beauty of B-Corps is that these businesses are outperforming, 00:48:55.900 --> 00:48:58.960 financially outperforming their competition. 00:48:58.960 --> 00:49:06.560 So investors are paying attention and businesses that are not taking care of their externalities, 00:49:06.560 --> 00:49:13.360 those impacts, are paying a price. So this is an excellent fad. 00:49:13.960 --> 00:49:21.460 So these give me promise and I'm going to add one more to the mix here, and that's relationships. 00:49:21.460 --> 00:49:29.360 Okay why relationships? Because what we do, what we all do is driven by improving the quality of our lives. 00:49:29.360 --> 00:49:34.540 Okay, improving happiness, eliminating pain and suffering. 00:49:34.540 --> 00:49:40.540 So what are the ingredients that do that? How do we elevate people's lives? 00:49:40.540 --> 00:49:48.940 And there's tons of studies on this. This is my favorite. Over 700 men tracked for over 75 years. 00:49:48.940 --> 00:49:54.795 They examine everything, from where they went to school, their eating habits, exercise habits, 00:49:54.795 --> 00:49:58.920 how much money they made, what cities they lived in. 00:49:58.920 --> 00:50:05.200 What are the ingredients that predicted a long healthy happy life? 00:50:05.200 --> 00:50:09.520 And there was only one predictor, significant predictor, 00:50:09.520 --> 00:50:15.840 and it was the relationships and that person's lives, their spouse, their family, in their community. 00:50:15.860 --> 00:50:19.140 That's it. Everything else was not a predictor. 00:50:19.140 --> 00:50:23.920 And what I love about that is relationships don't cost the Earth. 00:50:23.920 --> 00:50:29.440 You don't have to rape the Earth to find that well-being and happiness. 00:50:29.440 --> 00:50:37.440 Just ask yourself, what if only, if you only had 24 hours to left to live, how would you spend that time? 00:50:37.440 --> 00:50:44.860 Those are the things we need to spend time doing to elevate ourselves and they don't cost the Earth. 00:50:44.860 --> 00:50:52.860 So I am optimistic and on that note I will end there and I will turn it over for that last video. 00:50:53.300 --> 00:50:55.260 Hopefully we can get to that. 00:51:03.820 --> 00:51:06.580 This video is... 00:51:08.620 --> 00:51:11.040 turning it back to Tala. 00:55:46.650 --> 00:55:51.920 -[Andy] Yeah, thank you Mark. That was was gorgeous. 00:55:52.730 --> 00:55:58.200 We're all in awe of these amazing animals. And we might have a few questions, 00:55:58.200 --> 00:56:06.380 and Justin might, we have a minute or two that maybe we can take a few questions 00:56:06.380 --> 00:56:09.840 if Justin you want to field those. 00:56:10.240 --> 00:56:15.620 -[Justin] Yeah so there are a ton of questions. A lot of people offering actually research 00:56:15.620 --> 00:56:22.940 or different footage that they have. So a lot of this will be answered later on via email we'll send it out to folks, 00:56:22.940 --> 00:56:29.000 but here's one: Can you speak about how establishing the Maui and Big Island mantas 00:56:29.000 --> 00:56:35.400 as genetically distinct populations would allow them to be protected under the Environmental Species Act? 00:56:35.400 --> 00:56:38.000 Endangered Species Act, I'm sorry. 00:56:40.680 --> 00:56:49.760 -[Mark] Okay yes so right now they're not protected. The reef associated ones, they are listed as threatened 00:56:49.760 --> 00:56:57.340 under the the red list of species, but pelagic ones are listed. 00:56:57.340 --> 00:57:01.820 However, I think with this new evidence, it may be worth petitioning 00:57:01.820 --> 00:57:09.220 to have these listed as a distinct population segment, much like our false killer whales. 00:57:09.220 --> 00:57:15.940 We have these small sensitive populations that don't interbreed with the off shore populations 00:57:15.940 --> 00:57:21.300 and I think that's what we're seeing here. So we may see a new designation down the road 00:57:21.300 --> 00:57:27.040 that may offer better protection for those reef associated mantas here in Hawai'i. 00:57:28.100 --> 00:57:33.820 -[Justin] All right thanks. And here's another one that shouldn't be too long for you to answer: 00:57:33.820 --> 00:57:40.520 Hey Mark, loved the genetic analysis. I'm taking notes. How many years for females to travel between Islands? 00:57:44.040 --> 00:57:50.460 -[Mark] So that, well, that based on the patterns of isolation, 00:57:50.460 --> 00:57:57.020 so the genetic differences between those two islands, based on what we saw, 00:57:57.020 --> 00:58:04.280 the females would predict... one female every 500 to 1500 years. 00:58:04.280 --> 00:58:10.120 The males would seem to move more frequently, it would be one out of every 50 to 150 years. 00:58:10.120 --> 00:58:20.080 So very little exchange happening to produce that kind of distinct genetic stock structure 00:58:22.040 --> 00:58:29.000 -[Justin] Alright. And like I said will be sending Mark all of your questions and offers of collaboration, 00:58:29.000 --> 00:58:33.060 and you'll be able to look those over and respond and then we'll send them out 00:58:33.060 --> 00:58:36.000 along with an archived link to this video. 00:58:36.340 --> 00:58:38.840 Because we had a lot of great interest. 00:58:43.040 --> 00:58:44.600 Take it away Andy. 00:58:50.580 --> 00:58:52.180 Oh Andy you're muted. 00:58:57.160 --> 00:59:03.220 While we're waiting for Andy, Mark, is it okay, do you have a contact that you can share? 00:59:03.960 --> 00:59:13.860 -[Mark] Yeah absolutely. And for those of you who want to contribute either photos that you have 00:59:13.980 --> 00:59:18.220 or want to get involved, we definitely 00:59:20.880 --> 00:59:24.650 want to get that information. So we can connect you with our website 00:59:24.650 --> 00:59:27.880 where you can drop the photos off and add information. 00:59:27.880 --> 00:59:31.640 I don't know if you're able to see my screen but I still have... 00:59:32.020 --> 00:59:36.380 -[Justin] I'll make you presenter. I think Andy might be having technical issues again. 00:59:37.200 --> 00:59:39.200 Okay I am pushing yours up. 00:59:39.440 --> 00:59:52.680 -[Mark] Okay I got it now. So yes, you'll see my email address hopefully on the screen there. 00:59:53.020 --> 01:00:00.840 And for those you can't see it, it's DEAKOS@Hawaii.edu 01:00:00.840 --> 01:00:05.320 So Deakos@Hawaii.edu shoot me an email and we'll get you connected 01:00:05.320 --> 01:00:14.480 so you can start being part of the solution. The more eyes on the water the better, 01:00:15.620 --> 01:00:19.720 especially out there off Kaua'i and O'ahu, we could use your help for sure. 01:00:21.460 --> 01:00:26.900 -[Andy] Yeah, and thank you I think we've figured out some of the technical... 01:00:26.900 --> 01:00:35.640 Sorry I had one of those situations where I switched to upgrade to my Mac to Catalina and it, [chuckling] 01:00:35.640 --> 01:00:40.920 it unfortunately changed a lot of things that weren't there, 01:00:40.920 --> 01:00:46.520 but I'd like you to know that for every presenter every person who attended 01:00:46.520 --> 01:00:55.240 there will be a certificate of attendance that you will get for this presentation, and thank you for attending. 01:00:55.240 --> 01:01:01.880 We also have some cool presentations coming up. There's a link at the very bottom of this PowerPoint 01:01:01.880 --> 01:01:11.600 about some of the diving into telepresence educational programs and resources we have. 01:01:12.140 --> 01:01:19.700 We also have a lot of upcoming presentations that we'd love you to participate in, 01:01:19.700 --> 01:01:26.800 and a lot of distance learning programs, and we want you to make suggestions 01:01:26.800 --> 01:01:31.560 and maybe you have any ideas of what you'd like to hear please feel free to let us know. 01:01:32.200 --> 01:01:38.840 This presentation will be recorded and will be posted on to our website 01:01:38.840 --> 01:01:45.930 so if you missed any part of it or had to walk away you will be able to check it out in the future. 01:01:45.930 --> 01:01:51.280 And thank you so much for supporting our Office of National Marine Sanctuaries 01:01:51.280 --> 01:01:57.300 and our amazing underwater resources and parks that provide habitat. 01:01:57.300 --> 01:02:07.300 As a closing note I will leave you with one of the first trips I took to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, 01:02:07.300 --> 01:02:16.680 we saw any several mantas at Mokumanamana, which is the second island up there, 01:02:16.680 --> 01:02:23.980 and it was just such a profound experience for me just seeing them in a in their natural habitat. 01:02:23.980 --> 01:02:30.660 They're just so huge and so amazingly beautiful animals. 01:02:30.660 --> 01:02:37.820 So thank you Mark for participating and for sharing your your knowledge and your time with us. 01:02:38.320 --> 01:02:43.720 And thank you so much for being a partner. We look forward to seeing you again. 01:02:44.400 --> 01:02:45.820 -[Mark] Yeah, thanks for having me, 01:02:45.820 --> 01:02:50.440 and all of this could not happen without all the support I get from the community, 01:02:50.440 --> 01:02:59.120 financially and from just the citizen science. So this is a collaborative effort I hope we continue to do that. 01:03:00.480 --> 01:03:06.940 -[Andy] Aloha everybody, stay safe have a great weekend, and take care.