Visitor brings a ray of sunshine to diver

10
Feb

Seeing a manta ray close up is every diver's dream. Last week, Dive Tutukaka instructor Frenchman Laurent Benard had his dream come true as he interacted with a four-metre manta at the Poor Knights.

Mr Benard was still buzzing about his “magnificent manta” experience several days later.

He was diving from the Dive Tutukaka boat Calypso off the Poor Knights on Thursday when about 3pm the skipper noticed a white patch on the water.

“I knew straight away it would only be one of two things - a large plastic bag in the water or a manta ray - I said I think it’s a manta so went over to have a look,” he said.

Mr Benard spent about 10 minutes swimming with the manta ray, and taking photographs, something he had always hoped he could do after earlier diving in Indonesia, South East Asia and Australia with no success.

“So to see one here is quite exceptional. I felt really, really small, especially when she came right in front of me ... I felt like a dwarf,” he said.

“It wasn’t scary though, just pure excitement. She was majestic and classy, but never ever scary. A real dream for a diver.

“I know people who have dived for many years and done over 560 dives who have never seen a manta ray.

I feel so lucky.”

Mr Benard said as well as the manta ray he had seen a mola mola (sunfish) and turtle at the Poor Knights in recent days.

Dive Tutukaka sales and marketing manager Kate Malcolm said manta rays were known by divers as being even more playful than dolphins or whales and she was “gutted” not to have been aboard on Thursday.

“They are absolutely no danger to people whatsoever and, in fact, interact with people very well.

“They can mimic you and they can come up and look you right in the eye. They will barrel roll with you and really interact well.” Ms Malcolm said this was the eighth year in a row manta ray had visited the Poor Knights.

“They seem to have been coming down here [from warmer, sub-tropical waters] for about six weeks every year with the warm east Auckland current and this is one of the reasons why the Poor Knights Marine Reserve is such a special place.”