Normally, I’d call this a photo mission. But I was reading online about some fascinating manta ray activity near where I live, and they described a wilderness walk. I thought that was the coolest way to capture what I love doing—so I’m adopting it!
Beyond the new term, the post was really inspirational. It showed manta rays hunting in unique ways and highlighted just how massive they are. The next morning, inspired, I packed my gear and headed for the shore.
Nightcliff and Rapid Creek is a beautiful stretch of Darwin’s shoreline, with a coastal path winding in either direction as far as Casuarina Coastal Reserve and right into Darwin CBD. It’s one of my favourite places to wander, and occasionally, we bring dinner down to the park and watch the sunset.
Today, though, the goal was to find some rays.
Barely five minutes into the walk, I spotted a small group gathered, watching splashes in the water. The manta rays were already active. After chatting about their direction and how many there were, I settled in, camera in hand, trying to track their movement, but they were fast—every time I swung the lens in one direction, they’d vanish, only for another to leap further down the coast. I saw plenty, even some launching into the air, but I wasn’t quick enough to get the shot.
Still, a few of my favourites from the day weren’t about the perfect capture, but the feeling of being in the right place at the right time—watching the water shift, the sunlight hitting the surface just right, and suddenly, a ray appearing, if only for a moment.
At one point, I saw a fish dart into the shallows, being chased by something unknown. To escape it took flight which was really exciting to watch. I was fortunate enough to be pointing the camera in the right direction to get a good shot.
I followed the coastal path for the next few hours, where I saw an impressive show of shorebirds and eventually ending up at Nightcliff Jetty. I watched from above. Fishermen told me the rays had just passed below, but I wasn’t lucky enough to see them from that vantage point.
While I will go back again to get some more shots, I now want to capture a ray jumping out of the water, it was a brilliant morning of meeting some lovely people and sharing in the excitement of the rays. One last look back toward the jetty gave me a great final shot and a goodbye wave.
