Will you help us find tags from the beach so we can learn more about Skate behaviour?

Find a tag and help us with our research! 

Hi Everyone! I’m Eleanor Greenway and I’m part of a team of researchers from Wageningen University. This year, we’re tagging skates with data storage tags (figure 1) to learn more about their behaviour, distribution, and migration patterns. Skates are particularly vulnerable to human activities at sea because of their slow growth rates and the low numbers of eggs they produce each year. Learning about their migrations and nursery areas can help take appropriate management measures to ensure their conservation.  

Why are we deploying these tags? 
As predators in the North Sea, skates help regulate other marine species via the food chain. By diving deeper into their distribution and migration behaviours we can better understand their ecological role. We can also identify ecologically important areas such as nursery areas (through yearly migrations). With this information we can advise management decisions which benefit the species and contribute towards a healthy ecosystem.  

How do these tags work? 
These tags cannot be located by GPS, meaning the data needs to be ‘physically’ downloaded - one of the main reasons why we need your help! These tags are programmed to record depth and temperature data which is used to look at daily and seasonal swimming behaviour. The tags have a pop-off mechanism and are programmed to ‘pop-off’ in July 2024 and July 2025 but may wash ashore before then. When these tags are released, they float to the sea surface and eventually make their way to the coast.  

What have we learned so far? 
Since we started deploying the tags in 2021, we have already had 50 (out of 300) tags found and returned by fishermen and people walking along the beach. This data showed that skates are highly active - more than we previously thought! We found that skates swim through the entire water column, even coming close to the sea surface. By learning more about their movements we can identify changes in migration patterns, foraging hotspots, and nursery areas which can be used to inform management and conservation strategies. 

Why we need you
Hence, these tags will wash up on beaches around the coast of France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and the Southern British Coast. If you (your neighbour, dog, postperson or in fact anyone) go walking along the beach you may come across one of these tags. If you find and report a tag you will receive a certificate and a limited edition T-shirt! Next time you’re enjoying the lovely beaches, look out for our tags! If you find one, please report it to elasmo@wur.nl and help us with our research. Thank you!

Figure 1: A data storage tag (DST) attached to a spotted skate (Raja montagui)

(Updated 30-06-2024)