Can upwelling influence how round stingrays share space and time?
In tropical regions, seasonal upwelling brings cooler, nutrient-rich waters to the surface, providing food for many species. These rapid environmental changes can also stress marine life in shallow coastal areas. In Central America, climate change is expected to intensify upwelling, adding pressure to marine ecosystems already under threat from habitat loss, pollution and overfishing. Paola is tracking leopard and starry round stingrays in El Jobo Bay on Costa Rica’s north-western Pacific coast. Understanding when and where these stingrays gather will help reduce their accidental capture and exposure to human threats. By identifying critical habitats during vulnerable times, Paola can inform protective measures like no-fishing zones.
Paola Vivian Vásquez
I grew up in central Chile near the coast and when I was a child my dad taught me how to swim in the sea. That’s when I fell in love with the ocean. I used to love playing with sea toys, especially sharks. As I got older, I started watching the Discovery Channel and my favourite shows were always the ones about sharks, especially the white shark and the studies conducted around Guadalupe Island. I remember telling my mom that I wanted to become a shark researcher one day. Later, my uncle taught me how to snorkel...
Can upwelling events influence spatial and temporal niche partitioning in round stingrays?
To investigate how two round stingray species, the leopard round ray and the starry round ray, share space and time in a small tropical bay in Costa Rica that is influenced by seasonal upwelling.
Understanding when and where these stingrays gather will help reduce their accidental capture and exposure to human threats. By identifying critical habitats during vulnerable times, the project can inform protective measures like no-fishing zones. In addition, working with a local resort, we will raise awareness among communities and tourists to promote more sustainable interactions with marine wildlife.
In tropical regions, seasonal upwelling brings cooler, nutrient-rich waters to the surface, boosting marine productivity and providing food for many species. However, these rapid environmental changes can also stress marine life, particularly in shallow coastal areas. In Central America, climate change is expected to make these events more intense, placing additional pressure on marine ecosystems already under threat from habitat loss, pollution and overfishing.
This project studies two round stingray species, the leopard round ray Urobatis pardalis and the starry round ray Urotrygon asterias, which inhabit El Jobo Bay, a small tropical bay on Costa Rica’s north-west Pacific coast. These stingrays play a crucial role in maintaining a balanced sea-floor ecosystem, yet their behaviour and needs remain largely unknown. Using acoustic tags and receivers, we track 14 individuals of the two species over the course of a year. This will help us to understand how they move, where they spend their time and how they respond to environmental changes during upwelling events.
The results will reveal how these little-known stingrays adapt to natural environmental changes and increasing human pressure. This information is crucial for protecting their habitats and helping local communities and tourism operators to manage the area more sustainably. We will also share our findings with local people and visitors through outreach and education activities, raising awareness of the importance of these species.
This project aims to understand how two round stingray species share space and adapt their behaviour in response to seasonal upwelling events. To achieve this, we:
- Track where and when each species is present in the bay using acoustic tags.
- Measure how far they move during the day and night.
- Identify areas and times of the year that are most important for each species.