Supplemental feeding for ecotourism reverses diel activity and alters movement patterns and spatial distribution of the southern stingray, Dasyatis americana

• Published in: PloS one 2013-03, Vol.8 (3), p.e59235-e59235
• Main Authors: Corcoran, Mark J, Wetherbee, Bradley M, Shivji, Mahmood S, Potenski, Matthew D, Chapman, Demian D, Harvey, Guy M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acoustic telemetry; Activity patterns; Agriculture; Animal behavior; Animals; Biology; Conservation of Natural Resources - methods; Conspecifics; Dasyatidae; Dasyatis americana; Demography; Diel activity; Downstream effects; Ecology; Ecosystem; Ecosystem assessment; Ecosystems; Ecotourism; Environmental effects; Environmental management; Feeding; Feeding behavior; Feeding Methods - veterinary; Female; Fitness; Food; Foraging behavior; Habitat utilization; Islands; Marine biology; Motor Activity - physiology; Population; Population number; Skates (Fish) - physiology; Spatial Behavior - physiology; Spatial distribution; Telemetry; Tourism; Travel; West Indies; Wild animals; Wildlife; Wildlife habitats; Wildlife management; Zoology
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059235

Southern stingrays, Dasyatis americana, have been provided supplemental food in ecotourism operations at Stingray City Sandbar (SCS), Grand Cayman since 1986, with this site becoming one of the world's most famous and heavily visited marine wildlife interaction venues. Given expansion of marine wildlife interactive tourism worldwide, there are questions about the effects of such activities on the focal species and their ecosystems. We used a combination of acoustic telemetry and tag-recapture efforts to test the hypothesis that human-sourced supplemental feeding has altered stingray activity patterns and habitat use at SCS relative to wild animals at control sites. Secondarily, we also qualitatively estimated the population size of stingrays supporting this major ecotourism venue. Tag-recapture data indicated that a population of at least 164 stingrays, over 80% female, utilized the small area at SCS for prolonged periods of time. Examination of comparative movements of mature female stingrays at SCS and control sites revealed strong differences between the two groups: The fed animals demonstrated a notable inversion of diel activity, being constantly active during the day with little movement at night compared to the nocturnally active wild stingrays; The fed stingrays utilized significantly (p