Beautiful New Images Of World's Only Known Pink Manta Ray Snapped In The Great Barrier Reef

[Judi Lynn]

By Alfredo Carpineti
20 FEB 2020, 14:39

Around Lady Elliot Island, a 45-hectare island in Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, swims a sight like no other in the world: a manta ray whose belly is bright pink. The animal was first seen in 2015 and received the name Inspector Clouseau, after the bumbling detective in the Pink Panther movies.

New images of Inspector Clouseau, the only known manta ray with this particular coloration, were recently taken by underwater wildlife photographer Kristian Laine.

The rosy-hued ray came to the attention of the University of Queensland's Project Manta, who wondered about the reason behind the curious color. The researchers performed a small tissue biopsy in 2016, nixing infection or sickness as the cause. In a Facebook post, the team stated that the pink hue is likely due to “an unusual and unique expression of the skins [sic] melanin!”

More:
https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/beautiful-new-images-of-worlds-only-known-pink-manta-ray-snapped-in-the-great-barrier-reef/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Rare pink manta ray spotted by unsuspecting photographer in Great Barrier Reef

BY MEAGHAN WRAY GLOBAL NEWS
Posted February 18, 2020 2:14 pm



Photographer Kristian Laine captured photos of the rare pink manta ray while out at the Great Barrier Reef. Kristian Laine

An unsuspecting photographer had the chance of a lifetime when a rare pink manta ray made itself known on a recent dive.

Underwater photographer Kristian Laine went out to the Great Barrier Reef near Lady Elliot Island, Australia, to snap some photos of turtles, manta rays and sharks.

When he first noticed the underbelly of one of the manta rays was pink, he thought his camera was playing tricks on him.

“I had never even heard of a pink manta and when I first saw it, I thought my camera was playing up,” he told ScienceAlert.

More:
https://globalnews.ca/news/6563885/pink-manta-ray/

[Judi Lynn]

2. JAW-DROPPING IMAGE SHOWS ENORMOUS, ONE-OF-A-KIND PINK MANTA RAY PICTURED OFF GREAT BARRIER REEF

BY ROSIE MCCALL ON 2/19/20 AT 8:09 AM EST

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is home to a bright pink reef manta ray that stands out from his peers thanks to his bubblegum shade. The flashy ray was recently caught on camera by wildlife photographer Kristian Laine, who was diving near Lady Elliot Island in Queensland, Australia.

"It's pink manta kind of monday today," Laine wrote on his Instagram page on February 10, 2020. "The only pink manta in the whole world can be found cruising the shallow waters around lady elliot from time to time, around 8 times in 8 years i think is more like the odds."

At the time, the 11-foot ray was competing for the attention of a female alongside seven other rays, Laine told National Geographic.
Reef mantas usually come in three color schemes: black, white or black-and-white. The unusually rosy tint is likely the result of a rare genetic mutation called erythrism—the same phenomenon responsible for the pink grasshopper found in Texas resident Alison Barger's garden last week.

More:
https://www.newsweek.com/image-enormous-pink-manta-ray-great-barrier-reef-1487989

[Duppers]

3. What a thrill it must've been finding

This stunning specimen!

I had to read more - had no idea that these intriguing animals grew so big: 18' wide and weighing almost 3,000 lbs.

🙏

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Me either. Look at this!

https://boredomtherapy.com/animal-relative-size/

[littlemissmartypants]

5. Kicked and recommended. ❤ nt