You might be interested
As a large female manta ray glides through pristine tropical waters, Rachel Newsome swims down and carefully and quickly clamps a device onto its dorsal fin before it swims away.
Rachel is a Forest Scholar and PhD candidate at Murdoch University, working with the Save Our Seas Foundation.
Rachel’s device is essentially a manta ray Fitbit, allowing us to better understand marine megafauna.
Soon, every beat of the ray’s wing-like fins, every turn and dive, every reaction to its environment will be recorded.
GONNA BE GOLDEN
For Dr Ben D’Antonio – a research scientist at the Shark Research Foundation and UWA Oceans Institute – we’re in the “golden age” of animal tracking.
“There’s been this real plethora of technologies that’s come out with human wearables such as smart watches and phones,” says Ben.
“We can essentially put that same technology on animals to track them across ocean basins, thousands of kilometres and also to thousands of metres deep into the ocean.”
This technology is used to create small devices called biologgers. They provide scientists with information on an animal’s movement, energy consumption and responses to environmental change.
Credit: Supplied by Rachel Newsome
Older tracking technologies such as satellite or acoustic tags map animal movement but offer limited insights on other factors.
“Previously with manta rays, we’ve only been able to put satellite tags and acoustic tags on them, which limits your capacity to study an animal,” says Rachel.
GOING HIGH-TECH
Newer biologgers, including Rachel’s, are highly customisable and can carry an array of sensors. They might include sensors for speed, rotation, light or temperature – some even have cameras.
When used together, these sensors allow scientists to reconstruct an animal’s movement in three dimensions by capturing data on orientation, speed and rhythm of each fin stroke.
“They basically can fully recreate the entire three dimensional picture of the animal in space and time,” says Rachel.
This means marine megafauna can be studied in unprecedented detail.
These insights are critical in a rapidly changing ocean. Environmental shifts such as rising temperatures or declining food sources can alter how animals behave and how much energy they need to survive. Understanding these limits may help predict how species will respond to future change.
While Rachel’s work focuses on just one species, it reflects a broader transformation in marine science.
UNLOCKING SECRETS
Ben says the information gathered by marine biologgers not only reveals animal behaviours but can help scientists better understand the ocean itself.
“Animals are actually allowing us to better understand the oceans by kind of acting as these, like, evolutionary informed oceanographers,” says Ben.
By carrying temperature and other environmental sensors, tagged animals can collect valuable data from regions that are otherwise difficult to study.
Credit: Supplied by Ben D’Antonio
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
Despite these advances, challenges remain.
Attaching tags to wild animals requires careful handling to minimise stress and avoid disrupting natural behaviour.
Devices can fail or detach early, and high-resolution sensors generate vast datasets that can take months to process. There’s also the high cost for each sensor and the risk of losing it.
“There’s always an importance between ensuring animal welfare through as little human interactions as possible, while still attempting to collect data,” says Rachel.
Even so, the potential of these technologies continues to grow.
Emerging developments, including AI-enabled tags that can process data in real time, promise to extend tracking over longer periods and greater distances.
For now, every beat of the manta ray’s fins will become a new row of data, giving researchers the keys to understanding their secrets.
