My girlfriend Flavia Passaglia and I, Thomaz Monteiro (both Brazilian divers), were in northern Costa Rica to dive at the famous Bat Islands, where you can see bull sharks and huge schools of pelagic fish. It was our lucky day — only 15 minutes into our first dive we saw a young whale shark, a bull shark and mantas. It couldn’t be better, right? Wait for it.
At our second dive (Bajo Negro), we already expected beautiful things, but nothing like what happened next. When we were diving, our divemasters Franklin Alfaro and Yaser Mendoza looked at the deep blue side and saw a huge shadow coming to us (they have a pro eyes to see this animals). It was a great manta (Manta birostris), a special one. She was tangled in a piece of fishing net, and surprisingly, she came to us and just stopped. This manta was so peaceful, so easy, that Professor Brian Thompson (Canadian diver) could see the lines that were hurting her flesh. Brian acted very fast and gently cut everything.
Luckily, I was able to shoot everything.
After that, this manta stayed with us for about 30 minutes, just circling us. It was an amazing connection between this animal and us. We will never forget this feeling.
When the dive was over, everybody in the boat simply did not believe what just had happened. Brian picked up the fishing line and gave a little piece for all divers there. Now, it is like our “trophy” of this unforgettable day.
Costa Rica is a fantastic destination to dive, and we need to preserve their ocean. The overfishing and illegal fishing is threatening this paradise. More divers there would mean more supervision and protection. So… let’s dive and preserve!
