The Problem
Despite laws in Hawaii protecting manta rays from being killed or captured, 1 of 10 manta rays observed at Olowalu suffers from an amputated or severely damaged cephalic fin caused from entanglement in fishing line. The cephalic fin is an important appendage used to guide water and plankton into their mouths when feeding.
When they encounter fishing line, most likely at night, they lock their cephalic fins together and begin to roll to try to get free, only wrapping themselves tighter into the line. They eventually break free but the wrapped fishing line begins to saw its way through the flesh over weeks and months eventually cutting through the entire fin or rendering the fin useless.
This statistic is disturbing.