Drones have become increasingly popular tools to study marine megafauna but are underutilized in batoid research. We used drones to collect video data of manta ray (Mobula cf. birostris) swimming and assessed behavior-specific kinematics in Kinovea, a semi-automated point-tracking software. We describe a ‘resting’ behavior of mantas making use of strong currents in man-made inlets in addition to known ‘traveling’ and ‘feeding’ behaviors. No significant differences were found between the swimming speed of traveling and feeding behaviors, although feeding mantas had a significantly higher wingbeat frequency than traveling mantas. Resting mantas swam at a significantly slower speed and wingbeat frequency, suggesting that they were continuously swimming with the minimum effort required to maintain position and buoyancy. Swimming speed and wingbeat frequency of traveling and feeding behaviors overlapped, which could point to other factors such as prey availability and a transitional behavior, influencing how manta rays swim. These baseline swimming kinematic data have valuable applications to other emerging technologies in manta ray research.
Using Drones to Assess Volitional Swimming Kinematics of Manta Ray Behaviors in the Wild
2022
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
Unknown
Metadata by DOAJ is licensed under CC BY-SA 1.0
Volitional Swimming Kinematics of Blacktip Sharks, Carcharhinus limbatus, in the Wild
DOAJ | 2020
|A bending pneumatic rubber actuator realizing soft-bodied manta swimming robot
Tema Archive | 2007
|Bionic machine manta ray for water purification and cleaning in swimming pool
European Patent Office | 2022
|