Footage from Jan.30.2019 at German Channel,
dead manta eaten by Tiger sharks and lots of blacktip reef sharks.
Video by Mandy Etpison and Edwin Maidesil
"The adult female manta (F171 Simone) seen dead in the video was first identified early December 2018. She was seen regularly around German Channel since cleaning and feeding, so it is unlikely she died from natural causes. A Japanese liveaboard was first on the scene early morning Jan 30, and the manta was already dead in the shallows. We do not know what killed her, only her left wing was bitten off and large bites taken out of her back at that time. It is unlikely she got tangled in one of the nearby mooring lines, since there were no visible rope/struggle marks on her. She could have been killed by a great hammerhead or something else early that morning, or even by the two tigers that were there, since tigers have been seen hunting turtles at this site before.
By the time we got there at 10.30, several dive groups had already come and gone, but the carcass still looked almost the same. This is because the sharks circled the area, but only came in to take a bite once in a while, as you can see on the video, there was no feeding frenzy, and they came mostly when there were no divers swimming around or snorkelers splashing on top. This footage was taken over a period of 4 hours, with many dive groups coming and going in between. We got the best shark footage when we were alone in the water or could convince other divers to sit down on the sand and stay still. When we left in the afternoon, half the manta was still there, and so were the sharks, but everything was gone by the next morning."
- Mandy Etpison, Neco Marine
Palau Project Leader, Manta Trust- www.mantaIDpalau.org
