Today, all that is changing with the invention of building-integrated photovoltaics or BIPVs. This new breed of solar panel is incorporated directly into the building envelope. The sleek panels become an exciting new design element, proudly displayed for all to see. We also now have the technology to construct BIPV curtain walls, composed of transparent or semi-transparent photovoltaic glazing, which not only fill interiors with sunlight but harness it for electricity. Thanks to these innovations and the public’s growing appreciation for clean power, photovoltaic façades are finally having their moment in the sun. The embryo takes from 16 to 20 weeks to hatch. Newly hatched fish are about 3¼ ins in width and as juveniles feed on small shrimps and amphipods. Ray bites generally start with a small flutter of the rod tip as the fish more of less flops over the bait. Once the bait is engulfed the fish will move off powerfully, often pulling the rod over hard, so make sure your rest is secure or you are holding the rod.

Another tactic to try is to swap the grip lead for a plain lead. Cast to long range, then let the tide pressure on the line drift the lead and bait around in a downtide direction. This is another way to find depressions, channels and other spots where the rays may be working through or holding up. In the early afternoon, we edge up to a yacht with a red sail and a herb garden hanging off the stern, and Lydia Green leaps aboard our boat with her salty blonde hair flying behind her cap. In 2017, British-born Green set up Manta Watch New Zealand, a non-profit dedicated to researching and protecting the animals, as well as recruiting the public as citizen scientists to report sightings and identify individual manta rays. The rig is a very simple running ledger rig. This allows for a bait to be presented right on the bottom where the rays are grubbing around. The running ledger is very versatile rig and by using a zip slider, or link swivel, you can easily change the amount of lead used during a fishing session should the tidal flow increase or decrease. Ray will often grab a bait and run before fully engulfing it, so a sliding rig allows the fish to move off with the bait without dragging the lead with it, which may cause the fish to drop the bait. The hook length needs to be about 70-inches of 30lb clear mono or better still Fluorocarbon. Use 40lb if you’re fishing over snags. Tie this to the bottom swivel eye.Most rays, and the undulate is no exception, want their meals as easy as they can get them. This means the use of release grip wire leads that anchor the bait in one place. The ray will then swim up the bait’s scent lane until it finds the bait. Most manta encounters take place in the area north of Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island, but their ways are still a mystery, says Lydia Green, who coordinates a database of public manta ray observations. “They hide in plain sight. We’re very much at the tip of the iceberg in terms of any anything close to understanding them.”

They can also become entangled in set nets or fall victim to ghost-fishing, killed by the discarded nets that now haunt the world’s oceans.

Carry a range of leads from 4ozs up to 1lb, but in most undulate holding areas leads between 4ozs and 10ozs are more than adequate, even in the faster tide runs. Boat fishing rigs Another advantage of the two rod approach is that you can fish two different baits and decipher which bait, on the day, is best. Simple tactics like this can make a major difference to your catch results.

Out here, the water temperature is 24.9 degrees Celsius—abnormally warm for the gulf in January. A marine heatwave is turning sea-temperature maps bright red. Could that be a problem for the manta rays?

Often, these floats are balloons which pop with the pressure once the shark has taken the bait. Biodegradable balloons or regular shark floats are better to minimise plastic pollution. The Breakaway Impact lead is the most fail-safe. Others include the Gemini lead link with integral bait clip, the Breakaway Impact shield and the Breakaway Imp.