Manta rays demonstrate remarkable intelligence including possible self-recognition and long-term memory — their welfare in both wild and increasingly captive contexts deserves attention.
Manta ray welfare in captivity is an almost insurmountable challenge — these are animals that migrate thousands of kilometres, feed on continuous zooplankton aggregations, and require vast open water for the gliding flight that is fundamental to their existence. Every aquarium that has attempted manta keeping has failed to maintain them long-term; the welfare cost is animals that slowly decline and die in conditions fundamentally incompatible with their ecological requirements. In the wild, manta rays face the welfare harm of targeted fishing for gill plates — a traditional medicine ingredient with no proven efficacy.