Image of a manta ray swimming below the ocean's surface, seen from below.

The world’s first ultrasounds of wild manta rays reveal a troubling truth

It turns out reef manta rays are even more vulnerable than we thought—but scientists say we’re now in a better position to save them.

Reef manta rays (pictured, an animal in Hawaii) are considered vulnerable to extinction due to pressures such as overfishing.
PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG LECOEUR

Her bulging belly and swollen abdomen told researcher Niv Froman all he needed to know: This reef manta ray hovering near the surface in the Maldives was unmistakably pregnant.

"She basically looks like a pregnant woman. We call it the pregnancy bulge," says Froman, an ecologist at The Manta Trust, a U.K.-based nonprofit that works to protect rays across the world.

At full term, the fetus folded up inside her womb had a wingspan of almost five feet, as wide as a park bench. But pregnancy only becomes visible after around six months, meaning scientists might not know a manta is pregnant until halfway through her 12.5-month gestation.

That’s why Froman and the team have been using new

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