Brief description
Excel file: Flight metadata are provided for all drone flights (tracks) completed at Pioneer Bay in years 2022 and 2023, arranged with one track per row. A behavioural summary for each tracked ray is also included for each track in respective columns.
Csv file: file that contains details of all recorded feeding events documented in the study (one row = one feeding event).
KML files: trajectories of all tracked rays in Pioneer Bay (grouped by trip).
Full description
Context: Intertidal reef flats serve as communal nurseries for juvenile rays, where they perform important functional roles. While detailed assessments of foraging behaviours would provide critical insights into resource use and fine-scale trophic interactions among species, this has largely been unexplored.
Aims: We compared the foraging behaviours of cowtail stingrays (Pastinachus ater), mangrove whiprays (Urogymnus granulatus), and pink whiprays (Pateobatis fai) at Orpheus Island to understand temporal foraging patterns and assess if behavioural distinctions support species-specific resource use and functional roles.
Methods: Individual rays were followed for 7-18 minutes (mean = 13.5) using aerial drones at heights of 3-5 m, and details were recorded on all feeding events.
Key results: P. ater and U. granulatus fed more frequently during low tidal heights compared to high tidal heights. Both P. ater and P. fai preferred foraging on smooth sand using non-disruptive feeding behaviours, although P. ater showed greater preferences for intense excavation and U. granulatus preferred feeding among coral rubble more than other species.
Conclusions: Examined ray species exhibited distinct foraging strategies that enable resource partitioning while maintaining functional redundancy.
Implications: Behavioural data provides meaningful insights on foraging mechanisms, particularly if results are interpreted alongside other methods in future research.
Software/equipment used to create/collect the data:
DJI Go and DJI Fly for drone piloting
Airdata for managing flight log records
Filezilla for cloud storage of drone data (QRISCloud path Q3205)
Created: 2026-04-01
Data time period: 21 11 2021 to 12 03 2023
Data time period:
Data were collected during two excursions to Orpheus Island Research Station, each lasting five days.
dcmiPoint: east=146.48836; north=-18.610526; projection=WGS84
text: Pioneer Bay, Orpheus Island, North Queensland, Australia
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- DOI : 10.25903/1C6G-AX65
- Local : researchdata.jcu.edu.au//published/5ea5ad0019bf11f191f2f1bf0eb85acd
