Friendly
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, teams of ocean explorers would film, photograph and do research on the manta rays. They would report that the animal was actually incredibly friendly and only attacked if felt threatened. These reports changed the way that the world saw the animal for the first time.
There were still a lot of uninformed people out there, but slowly, as time went on, more and more people would learn to trust the manta rays. They saw them as a force of good and not to be feared. Now, you could see their numbers growing again and they have gained the respect they deserve.