Project

Baselines for butterfly babies

Species
  • Rays & Skates
Years funded
  • 2019
Status
  • Active
Project type
  • Research
Description

Not much is known about the Critically Endangered spiny butterfly ray in the Mediterranean, and even less about how tourism in this popular sea is impacting its population. Jaime is diving in to understand this species, using photos and videos to make its presence known to ocean-goers.

Baselines for butterfly babies

Jaime Penadés Suay

Project leader
About the project leader

The first breath I took underwater changed me. Having been born and raised in Valencia, Spain, I took the Mediterranean for granted. It was like a constant landscape and I only started to fall in love with it when I became a licensed diver. It is only through experience that we learn to acknowledge our natural heritage. Once we appreciate what we have, the urge to protect it comes naturally. I am currently in the final stage of my PhD studies on the ecology of parasites in elasmobranchs (sharks and rays), which is how I have linked my profession with...

PROJECT LOCATION : Spain
Related Blogs
By Jaime Penadés Suay, 30th December 2020
One net 103 rays
Sometimes the best way to endure the routine of a biologist is to escape from it. I like to visit the port whenever I have a free day during the week. If I know that this is going to happen in advance, I try to…
By Jaime Penadés Suay, 13th January 2020
EEA Meeting: Looking for alliances
During the week of the 14-20th of October, the members of Associació LAMNA participated on the 23rd Scientific Meeting of the European Elasmobranch Association, held in Rende (Italy), at the University of Calabria. As a break from looking for spiny butterfly rays in Valencian waters…
By Jaime Penadés Suay, 12th November 2019
Welcome to the Waste Age
Diving during summer months has proven to be tough on researchers because of the high densities of ships in the area, but when looking for spiny butterfly rays in Valencian waters (Spain, Western Mediterranean) they have also to look for other non-living ‘species’: plastic, textile,…
By Jaime Penadés Suay, 7th November 2019
Tourism impact: the end of the peaceful days
When looking for spiny butterfly rays in Valencian waters (Spain, Western Mediterranean), the researchers have to confront the fact that during summer months the waters are infested with one of the most famous Mediterranean species: the tourists. I am so glad that the summer days…
By Jaime Penadés Suay, 1st November 2019
Looking for spiny butterfly rays in the Mediterranean
For the last eight months, we have been searching the Valencian waters (Spain, Western Mediterranean) looking for a critically endangered species in the Mediterranean: the spiny butterfly ray. I’m too sick to go into the water today, so finally, I’ve got time to face an…
Project details

Gymnura altavela: Study of an undescribed nursery area for a critically endangered mediterranean ray species

Key objective

To asses the population of Gymnura altavela in the area and seek for public, private and government awareness and implication for its conservation.

Why is this important

The Alicante region of Valencia (Spain) has a long story of being a place for mass tourism during the months of summer, searching its warm weather and good beaches. Little to no attention has been given to the impact of these activities on the species that inhabit the coastal areas. Being LAMNA’s main objective to educate valencians to care and worry about the richness in elasmobranch species that we have and we are losing, we were searching for an ‘umbrella species’ to show people the amusement we feel when seeing the life under the sea. Looking for diving locations and posible candidates we found this nursery spot where really small individuals can be found alongside with big size females. Our aim is to study this spot and see what we can make out of it for bringing awareness on the protection of this species and its habitat.

Background

The spiny butterfly ray, Gymnura altavela, is an elasmobranch considered critically endangered in the Mediterranean by the IUCN. Despite this, our association has located certain areas of small size on the Spanish coast where these animals can be located with some ease. Unfortunately, these areas are located near places of increasing tourist interest, which could pose a threat to animals. Although we have located areas where we can find G. altavela, it could be that there were more that still need to be located.

In addition to locating the areas, we must know how is the population of animals that appear in them. Fortunately, Gymnura altavela spends much of the time in the bottom and leaves very characteristic marks that last days in the sand. The marks allow us to know the size of the animal that has left them, but also to know if it is a female or an adult male.

In the end, in an area with such a high tourist influence, it is the local population together with the tourist who will protect and respect the animals. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct awareness campaigns, through talks, dissemination of results, special campaigns and signals.

We want it to be the local people who, in the future, inform us of the presence of these animals, the size they reach, the number of individuals, etc. Therefore, it is imperative that these campaigns are carried out successfully.

Aims & objectives
  • Locate areas frequented by Gymnura altavela in places with a high tourist presence. A sampling campaign will be developed to locate the areas with the highest concentration of individuals or tracks belonging to Gymnura Altavela. After this, the areas will be marked and delimited in precision cartographic maps.
  • Second, determine the population structure of these areas. Using the information obtained, we could identify the approximate number of animals in an area, as well its average size. This will allow us to estimate the size and structure of the population.
  • Conduct awareness talks in diving centers, nautical clubs and town halls. Once we have information on the areas where the animals meet and information on the population structure of these areas, the resident and tourist population should be involved, through an awareness campaign.
  • Creation of signals and on-place information to rise awareness about the presence of the rays in the area. Since it is not possible to influence the entire visiting population only through awareness talks, elements that permanently inform about the presence of these animals should be used.