The whitespotted eagle ray and giant manta ray are protected species in Florida waters. To support effective species management, FAU researchers conducted 120 aerial survey flights over the course of 7 years along the Atlantic Coast from Miami to Jupiter Inlet to quantify the number of each species in Southeast Florida.

“There was no difference in abundance across the study period …, which suggests that the populations of both species appear stable in Southeast Florida,” says biologist Stephen Kajiura. The researchers also found that the abundances of the two species were not correlated with sea surface temperature, daily chlorophyll-a concentration (an indicator of phytoplankton abundance), or day length.

• Stephen Kajiura
• Michael McCoy