Camera drones are now commonplace. You see them used everywhere from outdoor music festivals to real estate advertising. And scientists in places like WHOI and the New England Aquarium are using them to track and document individual whales.
There are only around 370 North Atlantic Right Whales left on Earth. That makes the health and wellbeing of each individual vital to maintaining the species. Scientists are employing drone technology to keep track of the whales without disturbing them.
John Durban is a senior scientist at New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life. When he first started using drones to study whales, he said they were considered somewhat gimmicky. Now they’ve become another tool in the tool kit.
“Now we've done it for a decade,” Durban explained. “We've collected data to track individual health and it allows us to understand a bit more about why populations are increasing or decreasing or how vulnerable they are. To me, it's really a story of success and longevity in these methods now. They're a routine part of what we do.”
Durban and his colleagues use photogrammetry to identify individual whales and track their size and health. From the air, they can tell how well a whale is eating, if there are any injuries, and when a female might be pregnant. It’s a check-up, with what Durban called a flying camera.
“But that flying camera’s noninvasive,” he said. “We’re flying it high over the whales; we’re not buzzing over their heads. They don’t know it’s there. We’re at least 100 feet, often closer to 200 feet above them. They can’t hear the drone. And by taking photographs, we can really get a picture of health.”
And drones are simpler and cheaper than the alternative.
“In the past, we used to try and do photogrammetry from occupied aircraft – helicopters, planes,” Durban said. “And we’re still doing that but it’s tricky. It’s tricky to line up a charter time for these expensive aircraft, with weather and when the whales are around.”
Drones have made it possible to gather more data on individual health, and also on habitat range. Durban studies killer whales in the Pacific too. And he said this allows him to compare climate and water temperature changes across both coasts.
