Mantarochen sind friedliche Meeresriesen und ernähren sich wie Blauwale von kleinen Meerestieren

Staring into the mouth of a ray

The mighty mouth of the manta ray works like a giant funnel while this seemingly weightless creature glides slowly through the water filtering out vast quantities of plankton. It seems like a quirk of nature that some of the largest creatures in the ocean feed on some of the smallest. After all, other plankton eaters include the blue whale and the humpback whale. Learn which plants and animals comprise plankton at the OZEANEUM.

The 1:1 Giants of the Seas exhibit allows visitors to look directly into the opened mouth of a manta. The lifelike replica of the ocean’s largest ray is part of the successful diploma dissertation by set designer Anne Rauschenberg. Like some of the other “giants”, this artistic object also comes from the studio of Dresden-based experienced sculptor Peter Ardelt. Under the guidance of the Stralsund museum taxidermist Uwe Beese, the manta went through a transformation over several models of different sizes to reach its final shape with a wingspan of around five meters. The biggest challenge was in maintaining the anatomical accuracy of the ray in its plastic model form. Following the original templates, the so-called "mesh gill rakers" were created on the inside the fish's mouth, which the manta uses to sieve tiny bits of plankton from the water. This gives the visitor a vivid impression of the diet of these gentle giants.

In addition to the manta, an ocean sunfish and an oarfish are among the largest representatives of ocean fish in the exhibit.