Because the sand at the bottom of the sea is moving.

Thousands of tons of sand They move along the sea floor. The amount we can compare to the weight of two Eiffel Towers. This is what a team of experts observed in the Brisbane Estuary in Australia, during a year of research, the results of which were published in a recent study. But what causes this phenomenon? It is all thanks to The stingray In general, bat fish.

New study on strains in Australia

if Studio By title Bioturbation rates of the rays indicate that they constitute estuarine processes.published in the scientific journal Remote sensing in the field of environment and conservationfocusing on a specific behavior of stingrays that, the team concludes, will be of enormous importance to the ecosystem.

“the biological disorder Sediment deposition is a major ecosystem service in estuaries and marine ecosystems and rays (superorder Batoidea: stingrays, stingrays, electric rays and paddle rays) are among the largest biotrophs, modifying their environment through foraging and predation.

These cartilaginous fish live in fresh and salt water all over the world, feeding on mollusks and other invertebrates that hide under the sandy sea floor. When they need to feed, they shake their pectoral fins and spray water from their mouths and gills, focusing on a single point, in order to Move the sand until they find a meal.. Thus, what are called “feeding pits” are formed, like small pits.

How can stingray behavior affect the ecosystem?

“Stingray activities cycle nutrients.Increased oxygen penetration and sediment re-layering – we read again in the study abstract –. However, given that rays are globally threatened, it is unclear to what extent the loss of rays and the ecosystem services they provide will impact ecosystem processes. The research by Dr. Molly Grow and colleagues “assessed the potential amount of sediment moved annually by stingrays during foraging activities at the estuarine scale,” using Drone This allowed the team to map the daily bioturbation activity of these fish by creating 3D computer models.

Thanks to this careful study, the team discovered that the rays (we are talking in particular about specimens of estuarine stingrays, Hemitrigon rivers) creature Over 1,000 “feeding holes” in just seven daysmoving about 8 tons of sand. “That’s not even the tip of the iceberg in terms of the amount of sand that’s actually moving,” said Dr. Grow, who based that estimate on the stingrays moving across the entire estuary. More than 20 thousand tons of sand every year.

Behavior primarily related to feeding and therefore survival could have a much greater impact on the marine ecosystem than previously thought, being central to sediment turnover: “Biological disturbance of stingrays is likely to be Forms of estuary processes And (…) the loss of stingrays and their ecosystem services is likely to have a major impact on estuarine sedimentary ecosystems. These results confirmEnvironmental importance “Species in the ecosystem and the need to better understand the consequences of human pressures on these services,” we read in the study.