Reef Manta Ray

Photo: Luis P. B. · CC BY-NC

Reef mantas visit Calanggaman's cleaning station with regularity unusual for Philippine Visayan waters, where manta encounters are more often chance sightings than reliable appointments. The cleaning station here sits on a coral bommie at 18 to 22 meters on the island's north slope, and guides track individual mantas by their unique spot patterns on the underside of their mantle — some animals have been identified returning to this station across multiple dive seasons. Reef mantas feed on zooplankton concentrated by currents around the island's tip, and their presence is a reliable indicator that the local marine protected area is functioning.