I’m no Jacques Cousteau, but for a brief while I felt as if I might have been. Gliding by just a few feet below me was a several-hundred-pound manta ray, his winged silhouette illuminated by bright lights shining down from the water’s surface.
Tim is one of numerous manta rays that come to feed in a cove off Hawaii’s Kona coast, one of the few places where you’re almost guaranteed a sighting. The ocean dwellers—whose wing spans generally range from three to twelve feet—know that a buffet awaits them there each evening. The lights in the water attract plankton, which in turn make a tasty meal for the manta rays—and great spying ground for snorkelers and divers.
Everywhere Once 