David Keep Photography

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Photographing Reef Mantas

I’ve just published the 5 minute video of our trip to Hanifaru Bay in the Maldives - you can find it below.

Located in Baa Atoll, Hanifaru Bay is famous because from mid-May until December, the reef acts like a funnel, filling up with plankton, attracting hundreds of manta rays to feed. This happens due to the unique structure of the bay’s outer reef — strong tides overcome the force of the monsoonal current, sucking plankton-rich water from the depths outside the atoll back into the shallow channels. These currents form a back eddy or reverse current, that traps and concentrates plankton inside Hanifaru Bay. When I first entered the water I couldn’t even count how many mantas there were. I was beside myself with excitement!