FAU Lab Schools Research Program

Recently, Research Scientist Jessica Pate from the Marine Megafauna Foundation brought a special guest to the Berlin Family Bioimaging Lab—Ozzy the Manta. Ozzy was a juvenile male manta ray they were tracking, who unfortunately died due to a boat strike. As unfortunate as the situation is, obtaining fresh manta samples is extremely difficult, leaving large gaps in manta ray research. Ozzy will be used to answer questions on manta ray sensory biology, filter feeding, and color-changing that have not been investigated previously due to a lack of samples. With the help of some FAUHS students, the fields of manta ray biology and conservation will gain some new, important data produced right here in the Marcus Research and Innovation Center.