DEMA Exhibition Orlando, Florida Booth #367 Nov. 4-7, 2009 Join the Manta Network in Orlando Florida at the 2009 Diving Equipment & Marketing Association's annual tradeshow. Learn about our recents efforts to help protect manta and mobula rays worldwide. Ocean Presence Technologies will also be presenting its underwater live video cameras. These cameras are being deployed around the world to study marine life and for ocean education. Their new high-definition camera will be announced at the show. Uniquely hand painted manta rays on T-shirts by acclaimed artist Lynn Jaye are available for purchase in the Manta Network booth. These individually hand painted manta T-shirts will also be personally signed by the artist. A portion of the proceeds benefits manta research. EXPANDED ONLINE MANTA SHOPPING FOR THE HOLIDAYS We have added many new items for this year's holiday gift giving. Choose from a wide array of embroiled items, manta videos and fine art T-shirts and canvases by aclaimed artist Lynn Jaye. Troy Hotard's fine art manta painting is also available as an original or giclee print. MATAVA NEWEST MANTA AFFILIATE Stuart Gow of Matava Fijis Premier Eco Adventure Resort is now one of our Manta Affiliates. Their resort is host to several manta dive sites including Manta Reef (Manta Alley). As they are on the south side of Kadavu on the Great Astrolabe Reef they have direct daily access to the manta sites.  Matava Fijis Premier Eco Adventure Resort  Find out how you can be part of the Manta Affiliates Program

MANTAS BEING HUNTED FOR THEIR GILLS  In Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Japan and the Philippines mass fisheries seriously threaten manta amd mobula ray populations. New demand from Asia for dried gill rakers used in traditional medicines has dramatically increased the Indonesian fisheries, threatening the local populations. The gills are used interchangeably in Chinese medicine and according to Chinese practitioners, gill rakers help to clear away heat and toxic material from the body and aid blood circulation. On the street in Southern China prices vary according to size and manta gills can sell for $100.00 USD per pound. Paul Hilton is a photojournalist working on manta and mobula ray research in China, He is collecting gill raker samples for DNA testing that are used in Chinese medicine. You can follow his work from his website:  Sponsors Sought MANTA CLEANING STATION RESEARCH  We are seeking sponsors to help fund the deployment of underwater IP cameras at manta cleaning stations around the world. The MantaCam is manufactured by Ocean Presence Technologies and allows for research into manta behavior. This live camera can be controlled by researchers from anywhere in the world and will make possible live educational events over the Internet. If you would like to help sponsor this important conservation work, please contact Robert Aston  ASSISTANT MANTA RESEARCHERS NEEDED FOR 2010 MANTA FIELD WORK

endangered animals

distinct animals

                                      Distinct Animals

Tasmanian Wolf or Thylacine, Thylacinus cynocephalus

The Tasmanian Wolf is not a wolf, but a carnivorous marsupial and a relative of wombats and kangaroos.  It even has a pouch.   Tasmanian officials promoting ranching paid bounties to hunters.  Believed to be extinct for well over half a century, unconfirmed reported sightings persist.

English Wolf

The wolf became extinct in England in 1486, Scotland in 1743, and Ireland in 1770.

Quagga

Quagga, Equus burchelli quagga, of the Karoo Plains and southern Free State of South Africa were a subspecies of the Burchell’s Zebra, although their unique appearance wouldn't necessarily make this apparent.  Some thought incorrectly that the Quagga was the female of Burchell's Zebra, probably because the natives gave both zebras the same name. 

In the wild, Quaggas, Ostriches and Wildebeests often grazed together in what was termed the "triple alliance".  The Quagga's hearing, the Ostrich's eyesight and the Wildibeast's keen sense of smell comprised excellent defense from predators for the entire herd.  However, its limited range made it all the more vulnerable and Quaggas were hunted to the brink of extinction in the mid 19th Century by settlers razing sheep, goats and other livestock. The last Quagga died in in 1883 in an Amsterdam Zoo.

Turanian Tiger, Caspian Tiger

Caspian Tigers lived in China, Tajikistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey.  They were hunted for their furs and to protect livestock.  A ban on hunting the Caspian Tiger in the USSR in 1947 followed their greatest destruction in the 1930s.  The last Caspian Tiger reported shot was in 1957.