Giant Oceanic Manta
Also calledoceanic manta ray, giant manta ray
At the published northern limit, notable for numbers, age or season.
Sightings
2026 season, every one sourced
Southern California
- Late September, 2026About 10 miles off La JollaSource: Net Zero Expeditions footage, widely reported Sept 30 (via Jarvis)
- Aug 29, 2026Southern California (exact spots hidden)9 records by 9 different observers, all the same day
Photos
From California this season
No photos yet. If you photographed this animal in California this season, post it to the Coastal Bulletin.
Home Range
Where it normally lives
Worldwide in warm seas, as far north as southern California.
Range source: FishBase · NOAA Fisheries
This manta lives in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas around the world. On the West Coast of the United States, its published range reaches as far north as southern California. The largest known population is off Ecuador.
Identification
The giant oceanic manta is the largest ray in the world, up to 26 feet across and about 5,300 pounds. It has a very broad head with 2 long head fins and a mouth across the front. The back is blackish, sometimes with white shoulder patches, and the underside is white with gray edges. Compared with the reef manta, it is larger, its skin looks rougher, and it carries a small thorn near the tail.
Natural History
Giant oceanic mantas filter tiny animals out of the water, mostly krill, copepods and the larvae of crabs and shrimp, and sometimes small fish. They usually travel alone but gather at cleaning stations, at good feeding spots and to mate. They make seasonal migrations and dive to about 1,475 feet, possibly much deeper. Mantas leap clear of the water, mostly in spring and fall. A female has 1 pup every 2 to 3 years after a pregnancy of about a year, and mantas can live at least 45 years. Fishing is the biggest threat, much of it for the trade in their gill plates.
In California
Southern California is already the northern edge of this manta's range, so the 2026 records stand out for how many people saw one. On August 29, 2026, 9 different observers logged a giant oceanic manta off southern California, with the exact places hidden. In late September, Net Zero Expeditions filmed one about 10 miles off La Jolla, and the footage was widely shared on September 30.
Taxonomy
Rarity
Rarity in the compendium is how often the animal has been reported on the California coast this season, not how rare it is where it normally lives. It moves as new sightings come in.