Manta rays are among the ocean's most intelligent and long-lived fish, facing threats from bycatch, targeted fisheries, boat strikes, and plastic pollution that cause significant individual suffering.
Manta rays caught in fishing gear experience prolonged drowning as they cannot pump water over their gills while immobile in nets or on longlines. Bycatch capture and the process of drowning in nets is a form of suffering that may last hours for these long-lived, cognitively complex animals. Boat strikes cause traumatic injuries that can be fatal or cause lasting impairment. Plastic pollution injures rays when ingested or when they become entangled. Given their cognitive sophistication and long lifespans, welfare impacts on individual manta rays may involve genuine and sustained suffering. Their slow reproduction means every death has disproportionate population-level consequences.