During my first trip to Maldives in 2023, I had the wonderful opportunity to swim with wild reef manta rays for the first time. These spectacular animals cast their spell on me the second I saw them. And it has lasted ever since. I shot hundreds of photos, two of them among my all-time-favourites now. “Yin Yang” made the Top10 list of the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 (Underwater Category). The other photo, “Dancer”, is hanging as life-sized print in my living room. Yeah, I meant what I said about that manta spell…
Shortly after the trip, I sent some ID photos (documentary-style belly shots of the rays) to Manta Trust, a UK-based charity organization that coordinates global manta and devil ray research and conservation efforts. They would add the photos to their MantaBase, a database that contains data on over 10,000 individual reef and oceanic manta rays. Their goal is to make the animals’ data accessible to manta scientists and the general public around the world.
Turns out: The manta ray that is hanging in my living room, the “Dancer”, the “Yang” in Yin Yang, had never been identified before! So, MantaTrust gave me the honour to propose a name for the juvenile female. The “barrell roll” feeding motion and my print in mind, I asked some Maldivian friends what “Dancing” or “Dancer” would be in Dhivehi, the Maldivian language. They translated it to “neshun”. So, that is what I suggested to MantaTrust. Naming this manta ray that already meant so much to me was a real full-circle moment.
There are more exciting news regarding my photo Yin Yang: It is part of the 2024 Vital Impacts Annual Print Sale Collection! Proceeds from this year’s collection of breathtaking fine-art photographs will benefit the Convening Group of Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon (COICA). They represent and support 511 indigenous communities in the 9 countries of the Amazon Basin, working to protect and preserve this critical ecosystem.
Neshun, when I saw and photographed you in December 2023, I felt it was a very special moment. But I had not the slightest idea of all the wonderful, incredible things that would unfold from that encounter. You have changed my life and you keep on giving. Thank you.
Melanie Müller 