scholarly journals Unique Sequence of Events Triggers Manta Ray Feeding Frenzy in the Southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 3138-3152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scarla Weeks ◽  
Marites Magno-Canto ◽  
Fabrice Jaine ◽  
Jon Brodie ◽  
Anthony Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Unique Sequence ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
Manta Ray

scholarly journals Prey Density Threshold and Tidal Influence on Reef Manta Ray Foraging at an Aggregation Site on the Great Barrier Reef

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e0153393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asia O. Armstrong ◽  
Amelia J. Armstrong ◽  
Fabrice R. A. Jaine ◽  
Lydie I. E. Couturier ◽  
Kym Fiora ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Prey Density ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Tidal Influence ◽  
Aggregation Site ◽  
Manta Ray ◽  
Reef Manta Ray ◽  
Density Threshold

A historical and contemporary consideration of the diet of the reef manta ray (Manta alfredi) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 993 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. Bennett ◽  
F. F. Coman ◽  
K. A. Townsend ◽  
L. I. E. Couturier ◽  
F. R. A. Jaine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Calanoid Copepods ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
Manta Alfredi ◽  
Filter Mechanism ◽  
Manta Ray ◽  
Reef Manta Ray ◽  
Arrow Worms

The preserved stomach contents from the manta ray, collected in 1935, that provided the basis for the 2009 taxonomic resurrection of the species Manta alfredi, were examined. The majority of the material comprised calanoid copepods (61.7%) and trypanorhynch cestodes (34.6%), with minor contributions by arrow worms, a barnacle larva and a nematode. Comparison of the size-frequency distributions of stomach contents with that of zooplankton from the Great Barrier Reef region suggest that this manta ray preferentially ingested large copepods, or that the filter mechanism used to extract prey from the water was selective for prey items over 0.8mm in length. This is the first description of the diet of M. alfredi from stomach contents, and is consistent with previous inferences about what this species consumes.

Management of Water Quality in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Woodley
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Coral Reef ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Management Issue ◽  
Reef System ◽  
Marine Park ◽  
World Heritage List ◽  
The World ◽  
Coral Reef System

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world. It is recognised and appreciated worldwide as a unique environment and for this reason has been inscribed on the World Heritage List. The Reef is economically-important to Queensland and Australia, supporting substantial tourism and fishing industries. Management of the Great Barrier Reef to ensure conservation of its natural qualities in perpetuity is achieved through the establishment of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The maintenance of water quality to protect the reef and the industries which depend on it is becoming an increasingly important management issue requiring better knowledge and possibly new standards of treatment and discharge.

Circulation and water mass characteristics of the southern Great Barrier Reef

1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
JH Middleton ◽  
P Coutis ◽  
DA Griffin ◽  
A Macks ◽  
A McTaggart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Heat Loss ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Low Oxygen ◽  
Geostrophic Balance ◽  
Shelf Slope ◽  
High Nutrient ◽  
Slope Currents ◽  
North And South ◽  
Upper Slope

Data acquired during a winter (May) cruise of the RV Franklin to the southern Great Barrier Reef indicate that the dynamics of the shelf/slope region are governed by the tides, the poleward-flowing East Australian Current (EAC), and the complex topography. Over the Marion Plateau in water deeper than - 100 m, the EAC appears to drive a slow clockwise circulation. Tides appear to be primarily responsible for shelf/slope currents in the upper layers, with evidence of nutrient uplift from the upper slope to the outer shelf proper in the Capricorn Channel. Elsewhere, the bottom Ekrnan flux of the strongly poleward-flowing EAC enhances the sloping isotherms associated with the longshore geostrophic balance, pumping nutrient-rich waters from depth to the upper continental slope. Generally, shelf waters are cooler than oceanic waters as a consequence of surface heat loss by radiation. A combination of heat loss and evaporation from waters flowing in the shallows of the Great Sandy Strait appears to result in denser 'winter mangrove waters' exporting low-oxygen, high-nutrient waters onto the shelf both north and south of Fraser Island; these subsequently mix with shelf waters and finally flow offshore at - 100 m depth, just above the salinity-maximum layer, causing anomalous nutrient values in the region of Fraser Island.

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