Nation-wide assessment of the distribution and population size of the data-deficient nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum).

The study presents the first national assessment of a nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) population, conducted using a combination of transect surveys and baited remote underwater videos (BRUVs). Density of nurse sharks in Belize was found to be higher in reefs than in lagoons, and in the atolls furthest away from the mainland and human settlements. Only large and old protected areas were found to have a positive impact on nurse shark abundance.

Satellite tracking of manta rays highlights challenges to their conservation.

We describe the real-time movements of the last of the marine mega-vertebrate taxa to be satellite tracked - the giant manta ray (or devil fish, Manta birostris), the world's largest ray at over 6 m disc width. Almost nothing is known about manta ray movements and their environmental preferences, making them one of the least understood of the marine mega-vertebrates. Red listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as 'Vulnerable' to extinction, manta rays are known to be subject to direct and incidental capture and some populations are declining.