Scientists conduct first study on the largest known marine stingray
June 17, 2019 - This smalleye stingray is the largest marine stingray on record. Due to the elusive nature of these stingrays, scientists know very little about their ecology and behavior. This footage was captured off the coast of Mozambique, which is a popular dive spot for recreational scuba divers. Scientists put out a call for all tourists who have filmed or photographed this species to send in their photos for data collection. Through crowd-sourcing, they were able to come out with the first study on the world’s largest marine stingray. By identifying spot patterns on the back, they were able to track surprisingly long migration patterns. They proved to have the longest straight-line distance ever recorded by a stingray of the whiptail family. Because of the limited data, their conservation status is unknown. But scientists hypothesize that their numbers are low and hope that this new study will help to protect the species.
Transcript
This smalleye stingray is the largest marine stingray on record.
Due to the elusive nature of these stingrays, scientists know very little about their ecology and behavior.
This footage was captured off the coast of Mozambique, which is a popular dive spot for recreational scuba divers.
Scientists put out a call for all tourists who have filmed or photographed this species to send in their photos for data collection.
Through crowd-sourcing, they were able to come out with the first study on the world’s largest marine stingray.
By identifying spot patterns on the back, they were able to track surprisingly long migration patterns.
They proved to have the longest straight-line distance ever recorded by a stingray of the whiptail family.
Because of the limited data, their conservation status is unknown.
But scientists hypothesize that their numbers are low and hope that this new study will help to protect the species.
