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Pink blanket (pink): She is known as Inspector Clouseau (or simply "the pink blanket"), and is actually considered the only pinkish manta stingray known worldwide to this day. It all started in October 2015, in the crystal clear waters around Lady Elliot Island, the southernmost island of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. A diving instructor named Ryan Jeffery was guiding a group of divers when he spotted something unusual: a reef manta stingray (Mobula alfredi species, also called a chevron manta ray) with a belly of a vibrant pink hue instead of the usual white. Initially, many people thought it was a light trick, filter or even a problem in the camera, but the photos and videos confirmed: the coloring was real. The stingray was catalogued in the Project Manta database (a research project of the University of the Sunshine Coast and University of Queensland, Australia) as individual number 900 on the east coast. Because of the flashy pink color, she earned the affectionate nickname Inspector Clouseau, in honor of the clumsy detective played by Peter Sellers in the films The Pink Panther (The Pink Panther). Since the first sighting, it has been seen a few times - reports indicate about 7 to 10 confirmed sightings until recent years (including some in 2020, 2024 and even recent mentions in 2025/2026). She usually appears mainly in the cutting season, when males gather in groups to court females. She is an adult male, about 3.3 to 3.5 meters in size (approximately 11 feet). In 2016, Project Manta researchers, including biologist Amelia Armstrong, were able to collect a small biopsy of skin from her belly during a routine encounter on the island. The tests ruled out the most common initial hypotheses: It was not an infection in the skin. It was not a diet (unlike flamingos, which turn pink from eating carotenoid-rich crustaceans). The structure of the fabric was normal, like that of other blankets. The expl
