Plug plug plug! There’s now a tumblr just for my marine life art. I’ll be posting works in progress as well as sketches, doodles and lots more things that don’t make it into the portfolio. There’s not a lot there at the moment, but there will be regular updates. Reblogs are hugely appreciated! Thank you!
Majestic manta ray designated vulnerable species
Diving with the majestic manta ray is an eco-tourist’s dream come true that may soon be experienced only by viewing pictures and videos of the shark family’s graceful giants.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group (SSG), based at Simon Fraser University, has added the Giant and Reef manta rays to its Red List of Threatened Species.
The IUCN SSG, a worldwide network of scientists co-chaired by SFU biologist Nick Dulvy, has declared manta rays Vulnerable with an elevated risk of extinction. Intense fishing fuelled by international demand is wiping out these iconic species by the hundreds.
Until recently, known as one species, the Giant (Manta birostris) and Reef (Manta alfredi) are among the largest fish in the world. The Giant manta ray can grow to more than seven metres across.
Swimming, diving and filming expeditions with manta rays, the top stars in eco-tourism, especially in developing countries, reportedly generate $100 million annually, worldwide.
Manta rays migrate vast distances, crossing international boundaries, in search of food. Increased fishing is depleting their far-flung feeding stations and fishers seeking their food-gathering gill rakers have become manta rays’ greatest predators.
“Given that manta rays have a very low reproduction rate — they give birth to an average of one offspring every two years — they are very vulnerable to overexploitation,” says Dulvy. “They are a long-lived species with little capacity to cope with modern fishing methods and globalized demand from rising human populations.”
“Increasing demand for these fishes’ filter-feeding system for traditional Chinese medicinal purposes, especially in Hong Kong, is rapidly driving down their population everywhere,” saysLucy Harrison. An SFU alumna and biologist, Harrison is the program officer for IUCN SSG.
Manta ray populations are in steep decline in several regions, with a reduction in numbers by as much as 80 per cent during the last 75 years. Globally, the decline is believed to be more than 30 per cent.
“We can save manta rays — the solution is in our hands,” says Dulvy. He and his IUCN SSG colleagues recommend the creation of international conservation treaties to protect manta rays. They also recommend the following:
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Using the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITIES) to monitor and regulate the trade and exploitation of manta rays.
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Enacting legislation in countries to reduce and eventually prevent fishing pressures on manta rays through controlled trade.
(Source: sfu.ca)
Manta ray print available!
My manta ray piece has finally been reprinted, and at a larger size as well! It’s up in my Etsy shop along with my other prints.
Hopefully this week I can get started on some new art. September was INSANELY busy so I’m itching for some time to myself and my paints. At least I’ve had lots of quality beluga time. :)
My wonderful man made me a new gallery viewer, and I added a page explaining my digital process as well as a new banner and colour palette. I’m currently working on a new acrylic painting, but finding time around work is proving rather difficult.
Nandi (top) and Billi in the bubbles.
I’m going to spam a bit with some photos I took today of the animals I spend most of my week with. This is Billi, one of four manta rays. Whenever scuba divers are in the water they do their “feeding loop” in the stream of bubbles that come from the equipment; they’ll follow these bubble streams all over the tank. Maybe they just feel nice.
I finally finished them! These manta rays are hopefully the first of many elasmobranchs from me. I found them incredibly fun to do, given that their physiology is so different to the cetaceans I usually draw. They’ve always reminded me of some kind of otherworldly spacecraft; seeing them in person, and watching them move, blows my mind every time. They’re just fantastic animals.
There’s a higher quality version at the website!
Current WIP! This is generally what I start with. Usually when I set out to draw marine life, no matter what I intended it ends up being an orca (not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, but I’d like to add some variety), so I’m trying to branch out into other marine life. It’s not like I lack my own photo reference! I’m about to start slapping on some base colours to the sketch, and then I’ll be building up the layers from there.
As plankton swarms accumulate, mantas come to feast. The total Maldives population is estimated at 10,000 individuals. Three are following one behind another, chain feeding (at left). These mantas may soon swirl into a spiral formation for cyclone feeding—behavior rarely seen outside of Hanifaru Bay.
Reblogging for beautiful mantas.
