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KOTA KINABALU: An international investigation led by Sabah has helped shed light on the rare eagle rays, primarily using citizen science and social media.
According to the Sabah Shark and Ray Association (SSRI), this international study, led by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), saw the identification of a total of 46 eagle rays.
Of the 53 reports of the rare species the team found online, the 46 identified included those from Palau, Seychelles and South Africa, representing the first confirmed reports of the species in these countries, the SSRI said.
He said the study also found that many of the sightings occurred in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), highlighting the importance of these MPAs in the conservation of sharks and rays.
The SSRI said that while there were no documented sightings of the ornate eagle ray on social media from Sabah, the species has been historically recorded in state fisheries.
His current status in the state is unknown, although once he occasionally landed in Sabah, no reports have been documented in the past 20 years, he said.
“The ornate eagle stingray is a large and easily identifiable stingray, and its distinctive pattern of reticulated stripes and spots makes the species well suited for a citizen science-based study approach,” said Gonzalo Araujo, research associate at UMS.
“Citizen science, where the public contributes to data collection, is a powerful tool that can help many projects,” he said, adding that photos of people on social media platforms, such as Facebook, are proving incredibly useful for monitoring rare species, especially in remote locations.
He said that in Sabah, for example, citizen science is already helping scientists understand the enigmatic whale shark, providing evidence of how it moves to and from neighboring areas.
Araujo said the most notable investigation was in late 2019 when a diver video of a whale shark in Pulau Sipadan, off Semporna, was used to confirm the first documented movement of a whale shark between the Philippines and Malaysia, as the shark had previously been identified in southern Cebu, Philippines.
“It is interesting that many of the reports of ornate eagle rays found on social media are found within iconic marine protected areas, such as the Ningaloo Reef and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and the Cagayancillo Reef in the Philippines, as well as than the whale shark in Pulau Sipadan in 2019, ”he said.
“The effectiveness of MPAs to conserve species such as the ornate eagle ray and other mobile species is very complex, but it is encouraging that these species are present in these areas and that citizen science can be a powerful tool to help monitor them,”, Added.
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