DESCENDING 4K | S1 E12 | The Giant Manta Rays

Reef where it sweeps off down here into the sand is going to let us find some of these giant manta rays. Just try to be really patient and quiet and hopefully we'll a. see them and b. they'll actually come in close to us. We've got this constant drag of the current so we're having to stay here and to do that we're actually having to bury our hands into the sand just to hold us The idea is we sit here, conserve our air, conserve our energy and wait and see if one of these guys turns up. I don't think anything quite prepared me for seeing how big the manta rays were and yet when you come in close to them they're not threatened and they're almost intrigued. Look at this thing. Has that ever been? It really seemed like they liked our company and I know that seems strange but at times they seem to come to us. You can see it just opening itself up and just feeding. It's letting the current just push all the plankton through. It's essentially a gigantic flying cleaning station. Now these cleaning stations that you find in areas like this can find these symbiotic relationships where little fish help out the big fish and vice versa. The huge size of these things can frighten off other predators for tiny little fish in exchange the manta ray gets the help of the cleaning. Small fish eat the parasites off them so it's a complete understanding that we've got a peace treaty in nature. I seemed to enjoy the fact that we were underneath them looking at them from very close and at one point I had a manta ray come down. I was lying on my back on the sand and this manta ray came down literally on top of me and I was sandwiched between one ton of fish and the sandy bottom of the sea. Oh my god what a crazy experience. Holy crap it's coming right over to me. Actually able to look right into his eyes. These mantas are part of the shark family so you can look into its eyes it's swimming with it and it's watching you and you get a sense of understanding you get a sense of all wisdom in its eyes. Diving with the manta rays was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Such an amazing graceful creature and just so trusting. Should now be turned off and stowed as they may interfere with the aircraft's navigational and communication systems.