Scientist Identifies New Manta Ray Species—the Atlantic Manta Ray, Mobula yarae—in a groundbreaking announcement from Dr. Andrea Marshall and her team at the Marine Megafauna Foundation. In this episode, Andrew Lewin shares the story of how Dr. Marshall, already renowned for identifying two distinct manta species in 2009, confirmed a long-suspected third species after years of meticulous observation, genetic analysis, and global collaboration.
Listen to this remarkable story of how this new species was first spotted off the Yucatán Peninsula, how it differs from other mantas, and why its recognition is a crucial win for marine conservation. Andrew also reflects on the significance of species discovery for protecting vulnerable marine life and the importance of scientific persistence in the face of challenges.
Link to Article: https://marinemegafauna.org/news/third-manta-ray-species-mobula-yarae-discovered-in-atlantic-ocean
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Ladies and gentlemen, I have aspecial announcement to make, actually
two special announcements to make.
One is personal to me.
I'm gonna say that after.
But the first thing is that there hasbeen a new discovery, a new species
of manta ray, the Atlantic Manta Raythat has been announced and discovered.
It is by a dear friend of the podcastas well as the Beyond Jaws podcast, Dr.
Andrea Marshall and herMarine Megafauna Foundation.
(00:22):
I'm gonna go through the story, butI'm very excited to be announcing this.
This is a huge news in the scienceworld, in the SMA brank world, the
shark ray, and kymera species world.
Because it's a new species.
There's only been two before.
Now there's a third.
We're gonna get into it.
The other thing I wanted to announcevery quickly, this is episode 1801.
So that's 1,801 episodes.
(00:43):
I was gonna make the announcement lasttime, but I was really into the episode.
I want to do this.
It's such a good news episode.
I decided to like, you knowwhat, we got two great new
things that are happening today.
So this is, again, going into the 18hundreds for me, which is huge as a
podcaster, as well as talking about thenew discovery of a new manta ray the
Atlantic Manta Ray that is coming, fromthe Marine Mega Foundation and Dr. Andrea
(01:04):
Marshall and her crew, loving this day.
Let's start the show.
Hey everybody.
Welcome back to another exciting episodeof the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, andthis is the podcast where you find
out what's happening with the ocean,how you can speak up for the ocean,
and what you can do to live fora better ocean by taking action.
If you wanna take action before weget into all this wonderful good
(01:26):
news, I got good news for you.
If you wanna take action, you can helpbe guided to take better action for
the ocean by joining the undertow.
It's an online community of ocean lovers,ocean scientists, ocean conservationists.
There's gonna be wavemakers that are there.
People who independently are puttingthrough projects just like mine,
like this podcast as well as otherwave makers out there that are going
(01:47):
around the world and giving youstories and giving you information
to help you better protect the ocean.
There's gonna be vetted,products that you could buy.
There's gonna be ocean connectiontrips that you can make.
And there's just gonna be just discussionson a regular basis about the ocean.
No algorithms straight up discussion.
Ocean news, it's gonna be awesome.
Go to speak up forblue.com/join the undertow.
(02:08):
Let's get to it.
This is a great story.
So I want to go through thisstory because it's something that
I feel is really great and itstarts off with Andrea Marshall.
Andrea Marshall was nostranger to manta rays.
She has spent years underwaterstudying their graceful movement.
In 2009, she made history byproving that there wasn't just
(02:28):
one manta ray species, but two.
The moment shook the marine biology world.
But even then, a mystery lingered inthe back of her mind while diving the
Atlantic off the Yucatan Peninsula, shesaw something that didn't quite fit.
These mantas looked familiar,but something was different.
Their shoulder markings weren'tshaped like a T, but like a sharp
(02:48):
V. Their coloration was lighterand their spots on their bellies
didn't stretch the way they should.
She trusted her instinct.
This wasn't just a local variation.
It could be something entirely new.
She began documenting everything,photographs, samples, observations.
Every time she saw one, herconviction grew stronger, but science
(03:08):
doesn't run on instinct alone.
Years passed and still theevidence remains circumstantial.
She reached out to collaboratorsacross the Atlantic and the Caribbean.
They too had seen these odd rays,but no one had the full picture.
The mystery deepen theweight of proof sat heavy.
Meanwhile, her conservationwork expanded globally.
(03:29):
And then in 2024, tragedy struck.
Andrea suffered a sudden brain aneurysm.
Her world turned upside down.
Research pause, communication slowed,but her colleagues didn't stop.
Jessica Pate and NayaraBucair picked up the baton.
They gathered the data Andreahad compiled over the years.
(03:49):
They ran the genetics comparedbody structure map sightings,
and finally the results were in.
This was not a variation,it was a distinct species.
They named it Mobula Yarae after themythic Brazilian water spirit, a name
that reflected both mystery and reverence.
Andrea awoke to thenews from her recovery.
(04:09):
The third manta ray species was real.
A 15 year journey through dives, doubts,and dreams finally had its answer.
And she had been right all along.
Now the ocean had a new story to tell.
A story of resilience of the oceanand of the people who study it, of how
science sometimes requires stubbornness,faith, and decades of quiet work.
(04:33):
The Atlantic Manta Ray wasno longer a ghost species.
It had a name, place, and a future,and Dr. Andrea Marshall had once again
rewritten what we thought we knewabout the sea, not by accident, but
by listening closely to the ocean andto the science and never letting go.
This was a specialannouncement that was made.
(04:54):
You know, Andrea had an interview doneon the Beyond Jaws podcast was the
first time I got to meet her with myco-host Dr. David Ebert, who has known
Andrea for years and years and years.
In 2024 when we got News of the Aneurysm,you know, it was devastating to hear.
She is such an amazing scientist.
And to have this announcement come out,as she's recovering from that aneurysm and
(05:16):
being able to see and understand that thishas a profound effect on how we study and
monitor, manta rays and the importanceof how important science is to this world,
There's so many things that we cando now in monitoring these different
species and protecting them becauseit's not just a global population.
(05:36):
It's a type of animal that has distinctspecies throughout each different ocean.
And I think it's gonna be reallyimportant to see how this monitoring,
how this management, and also howmany other species are out there
that we just don't know about.
And it's gonna take people who are inthe water, like Andrea, like other
staff at Marine Mega Foundation andother partners, that they have to
(05:58):
be able to say, Hey, you know what?
We know a lot more about thespecies than we did before.
it costs money.
There's a lot of funding that's involved.
There's a lot of people that's involved.
There's a lot of time that'sinvolved to study these animals.
And a lot of the times in the sharkworld, if you watch the Beyond Jaws
Podcast it just takes a number ofindividuals to go out and study these.
And sometimes it's often a lowamount of individuals, just a small
(06:19):
amount of individuals that go outand that study these animals and
that discover new species, newpopulations just all over the world.
Not just manta rays, but othershark species and other species
that are living in the ocean.
Whether it be fish, whether itbe vertebrates, invertebrates,
it doesn't matter.
There are people out there that arein the ocean time and after time,
after time making observations,discovering these species.
(06:42):
Sometimes it's in partnershipwith non-scientists.
Sometimes it's in partnershipwith local communities.
Oftentimes it's in partnerships withlocal communities, in areas around the
world that as scientists, we don'treally know very well, but we partner
with these local like communities whoare like, yeah, we've seen the species.
These are the markingsthat we normally see.
How are they different from others?
And we have that communication go around.
The science gets put into one place.
(07:04):
We put out a paper tosay, Hey, you know what?
This is a new species, or it's not anew species, or it's just like a hybrid.
it's really, really great.
There's actually a really great episodeon Shark Bytes, which I will link in
the show notes that you can see abouthybrid great whites and what that means
in terms of where they're travelingand the distinct lineages, not species,
but lineages of these great whites.
(07:26):
All over the world and howthey're mixing and where they're
going and how they got there.
It's a really, really great piece.
really great video and I'mgonna link to it below.
But this is what people aregoing out and looking at.
This is why science needs to be funded.
And if we don't fund this science,we're not gonna make these discoveries.
We're not gonna understandthe oceans better.
And you never know what these speciesand the habitats that they use and
(07:47):
how they'll help us in the futureunderstand our planet better, protect us
better, and maybe live in more harmony.
So that's the episode for today.
I hope you enjoyed it.
I will link to the Marine MegaFoundation article on this third
species, but also, if you are interestedin supporting them, you can do that.
There's a button called Support us.
Highly recommend that you godo that, to allow them to do
(08:08):
more of this type of stuff.
There are other manta rayfoundations that are out there
that are doing great work as well.
The Manta Trust is one of them.
I'll link to that one as well.
It's very important that we support theseorganizations in discovering more about
marine megafauna than we've ever had.
It's really, really important that wedo that, to understand biodiversity,
to understand why we need toprotect these species, and just
(08:29):
understand the species in general.
So thank you so much for listeningto this episode of the How
to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I hope you enjoyed the good news.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin fromthe True Nor Strong and Free.
Have a great day.
We'll talk to you next timeand happy conservation.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have aspecial announcement to make, actually
two special announcements to make.
One is personal to me.
I'm gonna say that after.
But the first thing is that there hasbeen a new discovery, a new species
of manta ray, the Atlantic Manta Raythat has been announced and discovered.
It is by a dear friend of the podcastas well as the Beyond Jaws podcast, Dr.
Andrea Marshall and herMarine Megafauna Foundation.
(00:22):
I'm gonna go through the story, butI'm very excited to be announcing this.
This is a huge news in the scienceworld, in the SMA brank world, the
shark ray, and kymera species world.
Because it's a new species.
There's only been two before.
Now there's a third.
We're gonna get into it.
The other thing I wanted to announcevery quickly, this is episode 1801.
So that's 1,801 episodes.
(00:43):
I was gonna make the announcement lasttime, but I was really into the episode.
I want to do this.
It's such a good news episode.
I decided to like, you knowwhat, we got two great new
things that are happening today.
So this is, again, going into the 18hundreds for me, which is huge as a
podcaster, as well as talking about thenew discovery of a new manta ray the
Atlantic Manta Ray that is coming, fromthe Marine Mega Foundation and Dr. Andrea
(01:04):
Marshall and her crew, loving this day.
Let's start the show.
Hey everybody.
Welcome back to another exciting episodeof the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, andthis is the podcast where you find
out what's happening with the ocean,how you can speak up for the ocean,
and what you can do to live fora better ocean by taking action.
If you wanna take action before weget into all this wonderful good
(01:26):
news, I got good news for you.
If you wanna take action, you can helpbe guided to take better action for
the ocean by joining the undertow.
It's an online community of ocean lovers,ocean scientists, ocean conservationists.
There's gonna be wavemakers that are there.
People who independently are puttingthrough projects just like mine,
like this podcast as well as otherwave makers out there that are going
(01:47):
around the world and giving youstories and giving you information
to help you better protect the ocean.
There's gonna be vetted,products that you could buy.
There's gonna be ocean connectiontrips that you can make.
And there's just gonna be just discussionson a regular basis about the ocean.
No algorithms straight up discussion.
Ocean news, it's gonna be awesome.
Go to speak up forblue.com/join the undertow.
(02:08):
Let's get to it.
This is a great story.
So I want to go through thisstory because it's something that
I feel is really great and itstarts off with Andrea Marshall.
Andrea Marshall was nostranger to manta rays.
She has spent years underwaterstudying their graceful movement.
In 2009, she made history byproving that there wasn't just
(02:28):
one manta ray species, but two.
The moment shook the marine biology world.
But even then, a mystery lingered inthe back of her mind while diving the
Atlantic off the Yucatan Peninsula, shesaw something that didn't quite fit.
These mantas looked familiar,but something was different.
Their shoulder markings weren'tshaped like a T, but like a sharp
(02:48):
V. Their coloration was lighterand their spots on their bellies
didn't stretch the way they should.
She trusted her instinct.
This wasn't just a local variation.
It could be something entirely new.
She began documenting everything,photographs, samples, observations.
Every time she saw one, herconviction grew stronger, but science
(03:08):
doesn't run on instinct alone.
Years passed and still theevidence remains circumstantial.
She reached out to collaboratorsacross the Atlantic and the Caribbean.
They too had seen these odd rays,but no one had the full picture.
The mystery deepen theweight of proof sat heavy.
Meanwhile, her conservationwork expanded globally.
(03:29):
And then in 2024, tragedy struck.
Andrea suffered a sudden brain aneurysm.
Her world turned upside down.
Research pause, communication slowed,but her colleagues didn't stop.
Jessica Pate and NayaraBucair picked up the baton.
They gathered the data Andreahad compiled over the years.
(03:49):
They ran the genetics comparedbody structure map sightings,
and finally the results were in.
This was not a variation,it was a distinct species.
They named it Mobula Yarae after themythic Brazilian water spirit, a name
that reflected both mystery and reverence.
Andrea awoke to thenews from her recovery.
(04:09):
The third manta ray species was real.
A 15 year journey through dives, doubts,and dreams finally had its answer.
And she had been right all along.
Now the ocean had a new story to tell.
A story of resilience of the oceanand of the people who study it, of how
science sometimes requires stubbornness,faith, and decades of quiet work.
(04:33):
The Atlantic Manta Ray wasno longer a ghost species.
It had a name, place, and a future,and Dr. Andrea Marshall had once again
rewritten what we thought we knewabout the sea, not by accident, but
by listening closely to the ocean andto the science and never letting go.
This was a specialannouncement that was made.
(04:54):
You know, Andrea had an interview doneon the Beyond Jaws podcast was the
first time I got to meet her with myco-host Dr. David Ebert, who has known
Andrea for years and years and years.
In 2024 when we got News of the Aneurysm,you know, it was devastating to hear.
She is such an amazing scientist.
And to have this announcement come out,as she's recovering from that aneurysm and
(05:16):
being able to see and understand that thishas a profound effect on how we study and
monitor, manta rays and the importanceof how important science is to this world,
There's so many things that we cando now in monitoring these different
species and protecting them becauseit's not just a global population.
(05:36):
It's a type of animal that has distinctspecies throughout each different ocean.
And I think it's gonna be reallyimportant to see how this monitoring,
how this management, and also howmany other species are out there
that we just don't know about.
And it's gonna take people who are inthe water, like Andrea, like other
staff at Marine Mega Foundation andother partners, that they have to
(05:58):
be able to say, Hey, you know what?
We know a lot more about thespecies than we did before.
it costs money.
There's a lot of funding that's involved.
There's a lot of people that's involved.
There's a lot of time that'sinvolved to study these animals.
And a lot of the times in the sharkworld, if you watch the Beyond Jaws
Podcast it just takes a number ofindividuals to go out and study these.
And sometimes it's often a lowamount of individuals, just a small
(06:19):
amount of individuals that go outand that study these animals and
that discover new species, newpopulations just all over the world.
Not just manta rays, but othershark species and other species
that are living in the ocean.
Whether it be fish, whether itbe vertebrates, invertebrates,
it doesn't matter.
There are people out there that arein the ocean time and after time,
after time making observations,discovering these species.
(06:42):
Sometimes it's in partnershipwith non-scientists.
Sometimes it's in partnershipwith local communities.
Oftentimes it's in partnerships withlocal communities, in areas around the
world that as scientists, we don'treally know very well, but we partner
with these local like communities whoare like, yeah, we've seen the species.
These are the markingsthat we normally see.
How are they different from others?
And we have that communication go around.
The science gets put into one place.
(07:04):
We put out a paper tosay, Hey, you know what?
This is a new species, or it's not anew species, or it's just like a hybrid.
it's really, really great.
There's actually a really great episodeon Shark Bytes, which I will link in
the show notes that you can see abouthybrid great whites and what that means
in terms of where they're travelingand the distinct lineages, not species,
but lineages of these great whites.
(07:26):
All over the world and howthey're mixing and where they're
going and how they got there.
It's a really, really great piece.
really great video and I'mgonna link to it below.
But this is what people aregoing out and looking at.
This is why science needs to be funded.
And if we don't fund this science,we're not gonna make these discoveries.
We're not gonna understandthe oceans better.
And you never know what these speciesand the habitats that they use and
(07:47):
how they'll help us in the futureunderstand our planet better, protect us
better, and maybe live in more harmony.
So that's the episode for today.
I hope you enjoyed it.
I will link to the Marine MegaFoundation article on this third
species, but also, if you are interestedin supporting them, you can do that.
There's a button called Support us.
Highly recommend that you godo that, to allow them to do
(08:08):
more of this type of stuff.
There are other manta rayfoundations that are out there
that are doing great work as well.
The Manta Trust is one of them.
I'll link to that one as well.
It's very important that we support theseorganizations in discovering more about
marine megafauna than we've ever had.
It's really, really important that wedo that, to understand biodiversity,
to understand why we need toprotect these species, and just
(08:29):
understand the species in general.
So thank you so much for listeningto this episode of the How
to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I hope you enjoyed the good news.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin fromthe True Nor Strong and Free.
Have a great day.
We'll talk to you next timeand happy conservation.
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