September 17th
World Manta Day is returning on 17th September 2025! This special day has been created to celebrate manta rays and to raise awareness of the threats that these beautiful, mysterious, ocean giants face.
Let’s get mantas trending! #worldmantaday
The theme of World Manta Day 2025 is
THE POWER OF PROTECTION
This year, World Manta Day shines a spotlight on ‘The Power of Protection’, a theme that reflects a critical turning point in manta and devil ray conservation. As these iconic ocean giants face growing threats from international trade and overfishing, the need for stronger protections has never been more urgent.
From local communities to global policy, every action counts. This World Manta Day, we’re calling on individuals, governments, and organisations to unite behind real, lasting protection, through science, advocacy, and the law.
Whether it's supporting new international trade bans or helping tell the stories that drive change, your voice matters. Together, we can give manta and devil rays the protection they desperately need to survive—and thrive.
Join us. Be a part of the movement.
#SaveTheMantas | #WorldMantaDay2025
Let us know if you have any events planned for World Manta Day 2025 that we can promote for you here!
Online Talk (Primary): Join us to #SaveTheMantas!
17 September 2025 | 13:30 - 14:15 BST | Online (Free, sign up below) | Ages: 5-11
Join STEM Ambassador Jen from the Manta Trust to celebrate this year’s World Manta Day topic – The Power of Protection! It’s a global moment to spotlight the urgent need for stronger safeguards for manta and devil rays. In this fun, interactive online talk, Jen will be diving into the amazing world of manta and devil rays, discovering why they are so important to our oceans, and finding out how we are trying to protect these magnificent animals from extinction. Come join us!
This live talk, aimed at primary aged students (most suitable for KS1/2), will be informative, engaging and fun and there will be the opportunity to ask questions afterwards. This virtual primary school assembly talk will take place using MS Teams Live. The platform has safeguarding built-in to make it a safe online environment, especially for young people, including no webcams or microphones and a live Q&A function which is fully moderated.
Online Talk (Secondary): Be a Voice for the Ocean: #SaveTheMantas!
17 September 2025 | 8:40 - 9:10 BST | Online (Free, sign up below) | Ages: 11-18
Join STEM Ambassador Jen from the Manta Trust to celebrate this year’s World Manta Day topic – The Power of Protection! It’s a global moment to spotlight the urgent need for stronger safeguards for manta and devil rays. This interactive LIVE online talk will explore the science, threats, and urgent conservation needs of manta and devil rays. Hear Jen uncover how international trade is impacting their survival and the role of upcoming policy decisions in protecting these gentle giants.
This live talk, aimed at secondary aged students (most suitable for KS3-5), will be informative and engaging, and there will be the opportunity to ask questions afterwards. This virtual secondary school assembly talk will take place using MS Teams Live. The platform has safeguarding built-in to make it a safe online environment, especially for young people, including no webcams or microphones and a live Q&A function which is fully moderated.
Rays of hope: What are we doing to protect our ocean’s gentlest giants?
September 25 | 19:00 BST | Neal Street, London | Book your tickets below
With the discovery of new species being celebrated around the world and awareness of the dangers they already face greater than ever, now is our greatest opportunity to strengthen protections for the ocean’s sharks and rays. Join Oceanographic Magazine, Finisterre, and the Manta Trust as we dive into the power of protection and the vital role ocean storytelling now has to play.
RESOURCES
Check out our free resources, including social media posts and educational posters, to spread the word about World Manta Day, and the 2025 theme of ‘The Power of Protection’. Click each image to open and download, and please share on your platforms and within your community!
Let’s get mantas trending! #WorldMantaDay
2025 SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
2025 POSTERS
Despite their huge size, mantas feed on microscopic animals called zooplankton.
Manta rays are close relatives of all sharks and rays, meaning they have a skeleton made of cartilage rather than bone.
Every manta ray has a unique spot pattern on its belly that can be used to identify it, just as we are identified by our fingerprints!
Manta rays are truly colossal, with some individuals reaching seven metres from wingtip to wingtip and weighing up to two tonnes!
Mantas give birth to a single pup after 12.5 months gestation.
As far as fish go, mantas have one of the largest brains. Their curiosity and complex social interactions certainly support that!
Mantas are completely harmless and are therefore popular with divers and snorkellers.
Sadly, manta and devil ray populations around the world are under threat and their numbers are falling in many regions.
Manta and devil ray gill plates are consumed as a psuedo-remedy in regions of China and East Asia. This is the main driving force behind their capture.
Manta and devil rays can get easily entangled in fishing nets and die as bycatch. Even when released alive, it doesn’t seem like they have good survival rates.
Unsustainable and unregulated tourism can drive mantas away from important cleaning and feeding sites through overcrowding and poor in-water behaviour.
Climate breakdown threatens to change the distribution and abundance of zooplankton which mantas feed on. Coral bleaching may also cause habitat destruction around cleaning stations.
Organisations working to protect manta rays around the world
This World Manta Day, share your love for manta rays by:
Submit your manta ID photos to research groups
Share your favourite manta photos and video on social media
#WorldMantaDay
Learn more and spread the word about these incredible animals!
Reduce your seafood consumption and only eat sustainably sourced species
Support manta ray charities and research groups
Be a responsible tourist and follow local code of conducts when swimming or diving with manta rays
Contact us.
If you have any questions about manta rays or want to organise a World Manta Day event, please get in touch and we’ll add it here!