Manta Pacific Research Foundation

Kona Manta Ray Identification Project

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Number:	26
Name:	Duffy
Sex:	Male
Current Size:	~10' or more
Last Sighting:	Feb 21, 2008
First Size:	unknown
First Sighting:	March 22, 1996

This ray is a large male manta first identified on the Kona Manta Ray Night Dive on March 22, 1996. He has a lateral cut on the front edge of his right wing and his right rear wing is shortened where it meets his pelvic fins. He seemed shy and did not spend much time feeding at the divers lights.
This original photo at left was taken at Red Hill in October 1996. In February of 2008, Jon Shepard noted that he had a mangled right wing tip, had fully developed claspers, and was in hot pursuit of Big Bertha! This manta ray was named after the late Captain Pat Duffy of Kailua-Kona.