Manta Pacific Research Foundation maintains records of Kona manta sighting information submitted by the local Kona community and visitors to the area. We also receive information from elsewhere in the state as well as occasionally from other countries. Our current methods are antiquated at best. We would like to create an online, website driven sighting and photo id database to be able engage our local and global community in our manta population and to further encourage ocean stewardship.

Please describe your innovation?

We want to do 3 things: 1) create an online website driven database of manta information to better allow information submission 2) fill the database with existing manta sighting data, and 3) create a website that allows both layman and scientists to mine the data for information about our manta populations and general manta research. Although the first phase would use local Hawaiian manta information, we would design the database to allow global sighting submissions so that other areas of the world that have manta populations like Kona can also use the system for their own. There are also pelagic mantas that travel the world and we know very little about their migration. We would be a portal of information for the pelagic mantas that travel throughout the worlds temperate areas to perhaps track one of "manta birostris" with the help of a worldwide audience to try and discover their range and habitat, and to promote effective conservation strategies.

What is the problem or situation that your innovation seeks to address?

Our system is antiquated and requires large amounts of volunteer time to be able to fill the existing database. The training time needed to figure it out is daunting and we have not been able to find volunteers to keep it up. It is also a single file that must live on a local PC which is not connected to the internet so it is very difficult to disseminate the information we gather. The community that submits information can get only a limited view of the information they submitted. It's difficult to keep track of the history of a single manta.

What effort have you made to test out your new idea?

We have an existing website for the organization and it is now hosted in a place that has the needed technological tools available to accomplish it. We have an existing database of information so we mostly know what we need to track. Based on this, we also have a preliminary database design that will keep the information we need (however it would be good to get a professional review).

What is particularly noteworthy or novel about your innovation?

This will allow everyone who is in the water, diving or snorkeling, to be citizen scientists involved in the research of manta rays and to encourage ocean stewardship. By including more people in collecting the data, they will have more of a connection to the ocean and the animals in it. By increasing the number of people collecting the data, we can increase the amount of information available to scientists who are studying manta rays in their own research. Making this additional scientific data freely available to PhD students and other researchers is a proven way to encourage innovation and better conservation techniques. We are fortunate in Hawaii to have information available, we just need to get it out there.

What impact do you expect your innovation will have on the problem or situation described in the previous question?

A data collection website will take our manta ray information to the next level. It will allow us to better deliver our message of Research, Conservation, and Education. The long term however will be very exciting. If we are able to show how well the system works locally, we can start encouraging others in Hawaii to use it. But even more, there is no reason that snorkelers and divers worldwide can not submit their sighting information and make it available to researchers world wide. Studying the movement patterns of a pelagic manta can not be done without worldwide involvement.

What other community partners will you need if your innovation is to scale beyond your organization?

We will need to hire a company to implement the website. Someone from Manta Pacific Research Foundation will administer and oversee the project, but would not be involved with it's creation.

Why are your organization, partners, and key personnel suited to take on this project?

Our organization is now 10 years old and members of our team have been studying and researching manta rays for even longer. Because of our local manta population and the amount of information we have collected, we are considered some of the world wide experts in manta ray research. We would very much like to bring the expertise to the next level and expand the information we provide to a world wide audience.