Novel applications of animal-borne Crittercams reveal thermocline feeding in two species of manta ray

Stewart, Joshua; Smith, Taylor T. R.; Marshall, Greg; Abernathy, Kyler; Fonseca-Ponce, Iliana A.; Froman, Niv; Stevens, Guy M. W.

doi:10.3354/meps13148

Cited by 18 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…These ecosystems are also some of the most impacted by humans, and collecting movement and behaviour data within these ecosystems will help with selecting effective management decisions [8,9]. While costly tagging and animalborne video continue to be used to monitor the long-term migratory movements of rays along coastlines [10][11][12][13][14][15][16], drones represent an effective solution for monitoring fine-scale movement and behaviour in a cost-efficient, minimally invasive manner. While a handful of studies have incidentally documented the abundance of rays with drones (Table 1), there have only been two studies that have used drones to investigate ray behaviour specifically [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going Batty: The Challenges and Opportunities of Using Drones to Monitor the Behaviour and Habitat Use of Rays

Oleksyn

Tosetto

Raoult

et al. 2021

Drones

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The way an animal behaves in its habitat provides insight into its ecological role. As such, collecting robust, accurate datasets in a time-efficient manner is an ever-present pressure for the field of behavioural ecology. Faced with the shortcomings and physical limitations of traditional ground-based data collection techniques, particularly in marine studies, drones offer a low-cost and efficient approach for collecting data in a range of coastal environments. Despite drones being widely used to monitor a range of marine animals, they currently remain underutilised in ray research. The innovative application of drones in environmental and ecological studies has presented novel opportunities in animal observation and habitat assessment, although this emerging field faces substantial challenges. As we consider the possibility to monitor rays using drones, we face challenges related to local aviation regulations, the weather and environment, as well as sensor and platform limitations. Promising solutions continue to be developed, however, growing the potential for drone-based monitoring of behaviour and habitat use of rays. While the barriers to enter this field may appear daunting for researchers with little experience with drones, the technology is becoming increasingly accessible, helping ray researchers obtain a wide range of highly useful data.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going Batty: The Challenges and Opportunities of Using Drones to Monitor the Behaviour and Habitat Use of Rays

Oleksyn

Tosetto

Raoult

et al. 2021

Drones

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“…These animals are exposed to constant, heavy marine traffic and noise disturbance due to their proximity to the important tourism and commercial town of Puerto Vallarta (Everitt et al, 2008). Additionally, while feeding may occur during the period that oceanic manta rays remain in the bay (Stewart et al, 2019) feeding events were never recorded for oceanic manta rays in Banderas Bay in this study (Supplementary Figure 1). Recent studies suggest that the site is used for resting or "basking" purposes (Fonseca-Ponce et al, 2021) by the manta rays, which could be the reason why they seem to react more abruptly toward active divers.…”

Section: Banderas Baymentioning

confidence: 78%

“…At SCUBA diving sites the relatively high frequency of erratic behaviors may be linked to an adaptive response to remain longer in the same area. It is possible that the frequency of erratic behaviors observed at SCUBA sites could be due to potential foraging opportunities or the presence of nearby cleaning stations (Stewart et al, 2016b(Stewart et al, , 2019. Due to the nature of our data we cannot determine the exact length of an encounter.…”

Section: Manta Raysmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Oceanic manta rays are present at this site year round with a major visitation period from January/February to June (Stewart et al, 2016a). Ongoing studies suggest that oceanic manta rays may use the deep areas of the site as a feeding grounds during their migratory route (Stewart et al, 2019). Around 1.5 million tourists arrive at Banderas Bay each year (Medina and Arnaiz, 2017), many of which partake in marine tourism activities such as whale watching, snorkeling, SCUBA diving and recreational fishing.…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying the Effects of Diver Interactions on Manta Ray Behavior at Their Aggregation Sites

et al. 2021

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Manta rays (Mobula birostris, Mobula. cf. birostris, and Mobula alfredi), the largest mobulid rays, are subjected to exploitation and overfishing in certain parts of the world. Tourism has been supported as a sustainable alternative for the conservation of the species, and a potential source of economic spillover to local populations. Nevertheless, the effects of tourism over these highly social animals remains unknown. Manta rays aggregate at three sites in Mexico: Oceanic manta rays (M. birostris) in The Revillagigedo Archipelago and Banderas Bay in the Pacific. Caribbean manta rays (M. cf. birostris) around Isla Contoy National Park in the Caribbean. We analyzed the behavior of manta rays using video data collected by local researchers and tourism operators to determine how diver behaviors and techniques (SCUBA and free diving) affect them. Diver activities were grouped into passive and active categories. We described 16 behaviors and grouped them into four behavioral states: Directional, erratic, attraction and evasion to divers. We modeled the sequence of behaviors exhibited by manta rays via first order Markov chains. Our models accounted for passive and active diver behavior when modeling the changes in manta behavior. Manta rays in Banderas Bay and Revillagigedo displayed a higher frequency of erratic behaviors than at Isla Contoy, while Banderas Bay manta rays transitioned to evasion behaviors more often. Manta rays responded similarly in both sites to active divers. At freediving sites, manta rays from Isla Contoy displayed evasion less frequently than at Banderas Bay. Changes in manta ray behavior were similar for both sites, but mantas in Banderas Bay transitioned to evasion more with active divers. The increased food availability for Isla Contoy manta rays could be the reason for the reduced response toward divers in this site. The existence of additional stressors such as both traffic in Banderas Bay could be causing the mantas in this site to respond more frequently to active divers. This study, the first of its kind in oceanic and Caribbean manta rays, highlights that regulations and the use of best practices are vital for achieving longer and less disturbing encounters for both manta rays and divers.

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“…Animal‐borne video cameras are perhaps the best approach to directly validate foraging at depth and determine the source(s) of the zooplanktonic prey (e.g. Stewart et al., 2019), and, when deployed in combination with tri‐axial sensors, estimate the energy costs associated with such movement behaviours (Gleiss et al., 2011). Biochemical analyses, such as stable isotope and signature fatty acid analyses, of manta muscle tissue in comparison to different zooplankton functional groups collected in the same area (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reverse diel vertical movements of oceanic manta rays off the northern coast of Peru and implications for conservation

Andrzejaczek

Schallert

Forsberg

et al. 2021

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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Novel applications of animal-borne Crittercams reveal thermocline feeding in two species of manta ray

Cited by 18 publications

References 40 publications

Going Batty: The Challenges and Opportunities of Using Drones to Monitor the Behaviour and Habitat Use of Rays

Going Batty: The Challenges and Opportunities of Using Drones to Monitor the Behaviour and Habitat Use of Rays

Quantifying the Effects of Diver Interactions on Manta Ray Behavior at Their Aggregation Sites

Reverse diel vertical movements of oceanic manta rays off the northern coast of Peru and implications for conservation

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