(1) It's early-season, but you never know, a manta or whale shark could pass by.

(2) For several years, a manta nicknamed Molly used to be the star attraction here.

(3) No wonder these mantas are often called devil-fish.

(4) The star of Baja California on the Pacific coast is Cabo san Lucas and the islands and sea mounts off La Paz, where divers can encounter whale sharks, mantas and hammerheads.

(5) The harvest of mantas in eastern Indonesia has increased exponentially in just a few years.

(6) The attraction is the bigger animals - the mantas and the whalesharks - and, of course, the grey reef sharks.

(7) Watch out for large sting rays, eagle rays, moblia and mantas .

(8) Big fish enjoy the current - mantas , tuna, sharks (oceanic white tips, threshers, tigers and silvertips) all pay regular visits.

(9) World Heritage Site Aldabra has green turtles, tiger sharks, mantas and potato cod.

(10) The sight that greeted me the first time I snorkelled off the beach in Eriyadu was a patrolling eagle ray, and mantas , turtles and small blacktip sharks are almost commonplace.

(11) The mantas here also illustrate the kinds of discoveries waiting to be made by biologists.

(12) The first day we headed out to Manta Point, where mantas can be seen all year round.

(13) On calm days, dive trips go to the windward side of the island to search for large schools of pelagic fish: bronze whaler sharks, hammerheads, mantas and sometimes oceanic white tips.

(14) As the hours pass the next day, it seems that after weeks of sharks, seals, mantas and whales, we are slipping back to the real world, where disappointment can be the order of the day.

(15) Eagle rays and occasionally mantas also cruise the reef.

(16) August / September: Second plankton bloom of the year, with more reliable sightings of mantas and whale sharks, but visibility can be variable and potentially poor.

(17) At Rangali, often known as Madivaru, or Manta Point, giant mantas arrive in groups from the open ocean.

(18) Less commonly, mantas , giant bumphead parrotfish, hawksbill turtles and giant stingray make appearances, as do more than its fair share of eagle rays.

(19) Whale sharks and mantas might be seen at any time of the year, but especially between November and January.

(20) These nutrients feed plankton, which attracts mantas , whale sharks and huge schools of small plankton-feeding fish such as fusiliers and red-toothed triggers.