Valuing conservation and natural wealth: The blue economy of manta ray watching in the Maldives

• Hannah M. Moloney ,

  Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

  * E-mail: hannah.moloney@mantatrust.org

  Affiliations The Manta Trust, Catemwood House, Norwood Lane, Corscombe, Dorset, United Kingdom, University of the Sunshine Coast, School of Science, Technology and Engineering, Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia, Maldives Manta Conservation Programme, M. Kureli, Buruzu Magu, Maafannu, Malé, Republic of Maldives

  https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8509-8325

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• Maria I. Garcia Rojas ,

  Contributed equally to this work with: Maria I. Garcia Rojas, Nina Rothe

  Roles Formal analysis, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Formal analysis, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

  Affiliation The Manta Trust, Catemwood House, Norwood Lane, Corscombe, Dorset, United Kingdom

  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6600-7294

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• Nina Rothe ,

  Contributed equally to this work with: Maria I. Garcia Rojas, Nina Rothe

  Roles Data curation, Project administration, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Data curation, Project administration, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

  Affiliation The Manta Trust, Catemwood House, Norwood Lane, Corscombe, Dorset, United Kingdom

  https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2562-3515

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• Asia O. Armstrong,

  Roles Supervision, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

  Affiliations IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, University of the Sunshine Coast, School of Science, Technology and Engineering, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9307-0598

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• Kirsty Ballard,

  Roles Data curation, Writing – review & editing, Data curation, Writing – review & editing

  Affiliations The Manta Trust, Catemwood House, Norwood Lane, Corscombe, Dorset, United Kingdom, Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station, Oregon State University, Newport, Oregon, United States

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• Florence Barraud,

  Roles Data curation, Resources, Writing – review & editing, Data curation, Resources, Writing – review & editing

  Affiliations The Manta Trust, Catemwood House, Norwood Lane, Corscombe, Dorset, United Kingdom, Maldives Manta Conservation Programme, M. Kureli, Buruzu Magu, Maafannu, Malé, Republic of Maldives

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• Farah Hamdan,

  Roles Data curation, Validation, Writing – review & editing, Data curation, Validation, Writing – review & editing

  Affiliation Queen’s University Belfast, School of Biological Sciences, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0477-4655

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• Anthony J. Richardson,

  Roles Supervision, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

  Affiliations School of the Environment, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Environment, BioSciences Precinct (QBP), St Lucia, Queensland, Australia

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• Enas Mohamed Riyad,

  Roles Data curation, Resources, Writing – review & editing

  Affiliation Environmental Regulatory Authority, Malé, Republic of Maldives

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• Tamaryn J. Sawers,

  Roles Data curation, Writing – review & editing, Data curation, Writing – review & editing

  Affiliations The Manta Trust, Catemwood House, Norwood Lane, Corscombe, Dorset, United Kingdom, Maldives Manta Conservation Programme, M. Kureli, Buruzu Magu, Maafannu, Malé, Republic of Maldives

  https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2596-1681

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• Kathy A. Townsend,

  Roles Supervision, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

  Affiliation University of the Sunshine Coast, School of Science, Technology and Engineering, Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia

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• Guy M. W. Stevens

  Roles Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

  Affiliations The Manta Trust, Catemwood House, Norwood Lane, Corscombe, Dorset, United Kingdom, Maldives Manta Conservation Programme, M. Kureli, Buruzu Magu, Maafannu, Malé, Republic of Maldives

  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2056-9830

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