Giant manta ray specimen debuts in Taiwan

巨型鬼蝠魟標本在台灣首次亮相

5.45-m, 1,300-kg specimen prepared over 380 days after death from accidental capture


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's first giant manta ray specimen debuted at the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology in Keelung on Wednesday.

The museum was informed of a deceased giant manta accidentally caught by longline fishing in 2023. Measuring 5.45 m in length and weighing 1,300 kg, a professional team spent 380 days preparing the specimen for display, per NMMST.

The process involved skinning, softening, and sculpting. The specimen is now suspended in the fifth-floor corridor of the museum's theme hall.

Within 12 hours of discovering the deceased giant manta, the museum's team encountered several challenges in preserving the specimen. They struggled to find a suitable crane, freezer, and processing site.

Eventually, the giant manta was lifted from Huanggang Fishing Harbor and transported to a freezer plant for cooling.

The giant manta ray, also known as the oceanic manta ray, is listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. The Red List is a vital tool for identifying threatened and endangered species, playing a critical role in global biodiversity conservation, according to Oxford Academic.

Giant mantas are the largest rays in the world. They reach weights of up to 2,404 kg and have wingspans that reach 8.8 m.

For decades, only one manta ray species was known, but in 2009, scientists distinguished the giant manta ray as a separate, more oceanic species from the reef manta ray. Due to their wide range and sparse distribution, much of the species' life history remains unknown, per Oceana.