Have Aloha Will Travel EP92: Talk Story with “Manta Man” Keller Laros

On this week’s episode, the crew talks story with the “Manta Man” himself, Keller Laros.

Gliding blissfully under the sea’s surface, manta rays are some of Hawaiʻi’s most fascinating and beautiful underwater inhabitants. And to coincide with World Manta Day on Sep. 17, the Have Aloha Will Travel crew has invited Keller Laros on to discuss everything manta.

Famously known for his YouTube video documenting a bottlenose dolphin asking for his assistance to remove fishing line from its wound, which has garnered over 22 million views, Laros’s true passion is observing, recording and getting to know the mantas that call the Hawaiian Islands home. Starting the Manta Pacific Research Foundation in 2002, the nonprofit’s main goal is to study manta rays in their natural habitat, conduct scientific research, provide education programs for the public about manta rays and the marine environment and to establish and promote global manta ray conservation.

So learn all about mantas in this episode of the Have Aloha Will Travel podcast with the rest of the crew, and listen in to interesting anecdotes—like how Laros accidentally filmed a salacious manta mating session on one of his dives and how his first experience with manta shifted the course of Laros’s life. (We’ve also previously interviewed Laros for a Q&A in HAWAIʻI Magazine back in 2019.) And if you want to get involved with manta conservancy or just educate yourself more on these beautiful creatures, join Laros and the Manta Pacific Research Foundation at the Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa on Hawaiʻi Island for a day of coastal cleanups and manta talks with specialists in the field.

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