What do stingrays and manta rays represent in Hawaiian culture? (Animal Stories Podcast Ep. #1)

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The manta ray is one of the most ancient creatures in world history and is sometimes known as the gentle giant of the sea. With a wingspan of 15 feet and a weight of 3000 pounds, the manta ray is as heavy as a beluga whale and almost as heavy as the great white shark. But unlike the great white, manta rays do not present any danger to humans. While a shark might mistake a person for a large fish, manta rays don't consume fish altogether. They are what's called filter feeders, which means they bring in large amounts of seawater into their mouths while swimming and then pass that water through gills or openings on their undersides, and as the water is expelled outward, zooplankton remain inside and continue into the manta ray's belly

In other words, manta rays filter seawater in a way that removes zooplankton from the water, leaving behind seawater that is now filtered of all of those small organisms that the manta ray just consumed as a meal.

In Hawaii, local communities have a long history of seeing the manta ray as a symbol of strength, grace, beauty, wisdom, and flow. In the Hawaiian language, the manta ray is called “hahalua,” which means “two breaths”. Some people mistake the manta ray with the stingray, called "hihimanu" in Hawaiian language. And while the two look similar, there are two major differences: First, while manta rays can be enormous and many times larger than a person, stingrays can be as small as just two hand spans in length. Second, stingrays, like bees and hornets, have stingers. But the stingray's stinger is much more dangerous to humans in the rare cases when a stingray mistakes a person for a predator. The manta ray, in contrast, has a soft tail like many other aquatic creatures.

It's for this reason that manta rays are thought of in Hawaii as gentle giants. Like the enormous wings of a falcon gliding far above the mountains of Mongolia, the enormous winglike fins of a manta ray undulate through the seas of Hawaii in a sight that locals have marveled and written about for centuries.

According to Hawaii's most ancient traditions, there is a certain superhuman or otherworldly figure named Kanaloa, who is a kind of spirit of the sea. Ancient Hawaiians believed that Kanaloa was one many spirits of the sea with powers and energy that could be seen in the movement of an ocean's waters and the activities of its mysterious creatures: the sea turtle (honu), the octopus (he'e), the dolphin (na'ia), the whale (palaoa), the tiger shark (niuhi), the sting ray (hihimanu), and of course the most majestic creature of the Hawaiians seas: the mighty manta ray (hahalua).

In ancient Hawaiian traditions, in other words, the magic of manta rays and other creatures of the sea was somehow connected with this other world of Kanaloa, which means that they were themselves, in some sense, otherworldly beings.

And there were parallels in this idea with other parts of the ancient Pacific Ocean. Further east along the coast of Peru, archaeologists have discovered evidence that the ancient peoples associated with the Moche culture also had special respect for the manta ray. The Moche culture existed during the time of the Roman Empire in the first few hundred years of the Common Era, from about the 100s to the 700s. Archaeologists have learned quite a bit about these ancient Peruvians by unearthing objects and settlements that have, over the centuries, become slowly buried under ground as new settlements and cities were built. These objects include artwork, including a kind of royal artwork associated with ancient leaders of the tribes.

And within that artwork are representations of certain sea creatures that include leatherback turtles, gigantic swimming crabs, sharks, eagle rays, octopuses, catfishes, eagle rays, and what is now the most familiar figure, the manta ray.

Written by: Prof. Ali H. Akhtar