How Can People Help Protect Sharks, Rays & Skates?
A few weeks ago, we hosted a Clean Coasts Beach Clean and Shark & Ray Egg Case Hunt! We had so much fun finding over 200 egg cases from Thornback Rays and some Lesser Spotted Dogfish.
What Is The Goal Of Egg Case Hunts?
During the experience, someone asked us what is the goal of Egg Case Hunts?
This was an important question and we managed to get in contact with The Ray Project for help answering this question!
Thanks to Megan Byrne Outreach Officer | The Ray Project for help with this BLOG.
THE RAY PROJECT
We asked The Ray Project For Help, and this is what they said.
The Short Answer is:
This research and recording of Shark & Ray Egg Cases (Egg Hunts) aims to understand the distribution and habitats of these species in Irish waters so we can identify more locations of importance which may need protection to aid in their conservation.
They Were Very Kind and Shared these wonderful resources!
ABOUT
The Ray Project is an Irish NGO devoted to protecting and researching skates and rays. We aim to inform the public about these fascinatingly diverse native species and highlight their ecological importance in Ireland’s coastal ecosystems through our research and outreach.
We have been educating our local communities through outreach events such as beach events, educational talks at schools, etc.
Female skates lay egg cases in shallow waters from February to August, which develop for approximately 4 – 6 months before hatching. These egg cases are washed ashore onto the beaches of Ireland.
Did you know? Each species has a unique egg case, which helps us identify all the egg cases we find.
Thanks to the help of citizen scientists, our team, and partners, we have identified over 2200 egg cases!
Our current research project is focused on identifying the lay sights of native coastal skates. We have started with four specific species: the thornback skate, blonde skate, spotted skate and flapper skate.
This research aims to understand the distribution and habitats of juvenile skates in Irish waters so we can identify more locations of importance which may need protection to aid in their conservation.
We are using a baited remote underwater video (BRUV), which we made to conduct this work.
Keep updated on our work and upcoming outreach events or contact us if you would like any of our ID guides via our website, www.therayproject.org.
SKATE & SHARK Egg Case ID Guide IRELAND
EXTRA RESOURCES
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?
If you would like to help the Ray Project, please visit the website for information on recording species.
If you would like to become an active EGG CASE HUNTER on Grattan Beach, Salthill you can do this every month! The I Like Beaches Group on Galway are hoping to organise more events like EGG CASE hunts and Explore Your Shore Activities.
And That is How People Help Protect Sharks, Rays & Skates.