PhD Candidate Joshua Bennett-Williams presented his research from the Ocean Ecol (Wyatt) Lab at Sharks International 2026 in Sri Lanka on 5 May 2026.
His talk, “Manta mucus: its sticky and tricky application as an isotopic tracer of trophic ecology”, explored the potential of non-invasive mucus sampling as a low-impact method for studying manta ray diets. Josh presented results from controlled feeding studies showing that manta mucus can provide useful stable isotope information, including estimates of diet–tissue discrimination and isotope turnover time.
This work, conducted with collaborators from Ocean Park Hong Kong and Singapore Oceanarium, Resorts World Sentosa, was supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong through a General Research Fund grant awarded to Alex S.J. Wyatt.
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- Joshua Bennett-Williams presenting manta mucus isotope research at Sharks International 2026 in Sri Lanka.
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- The presentation highlighted the potential of manta mucus as a low-impact isotopic tracer for ecological studies.
