I'm helping the Manta Trust to raise money for vital manta ray research, conservation and education by taking part in their Cross the Oceans 2021 challenge - helping Team Manta virtually travel from Manta Trust HQ in the UK to Manta Catalog Azores in the middle of the Atlantic. I will be swimming 15km in my local ocean pool and walking 50km during June (I'm actually signing up for this while in hotel quarantine so I'll only have about two weeks to complete the goal!). 

Any donations you can spare for this cause would be immensely appreciated, not just because manta and devil rays are some of the most beautiful, charismatic species you will ever encounter in your life, but because their populations worldwide are heavily threatened by fishing activity. All species of manta and devil ray are now considered Endangered or Vulnerable to extinction, and they really need our help.

Your support will help the Manta Trust on their mission to conserve manta and devil rays and their habitats, support projects around the world that have been hit hard during the pandemic, provide educational opportunities for kids and students from all backgrounds, and build in-country capacity to diversify and bring equality to the marine conservation sector. If you'd like to learn more, check out https://www.mantatrust.org/

If you're not able to donate, you can still help mantas by making informed choices about the seafood you and people you know consume! Be sure to ask questions about 1) what species you're eating, 2) where it was caught, and 3) how it was caught. Prioritise seafood caught using selective methods such as hand-caught, pole-and-line caught, troll-caught (avoid non-selective methods such as trawling, purse-seine, FAD caught, gillnet, dredging). For more information, check out https://www.fishfreefebruary.com/resources and for informative region-specific seafood guides, check out: 

• UK: https://www.cornwallgoodseafoodguide.org.uk/ and https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/
• USA and Canada: https://localcatch.org/ ; https://www.seafoodwatch.org/ ; https://seafood.ocean.org/
• Australia: https://goodfish.org.au/

Thank you so much for your support, the mantas really appreciate it!