Researchers from the Vancouver Aquarium and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have made drone history by using one to keep track of killer whales.
A hexacopter was able to capture information about the health and habits of these marine mammals, flying 30 meters above the surface of the water as the whales swam below, according to CNET. The goal is to use this information to help keep killer whale populations on the West Coast safe.
Over 60 flights have been done for this project, resulting in the capturing of over 30,000 photos and interesting footage of these whales. Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard, senior marine mammal scientist at the Vancouver Aquarium, said this was the first time that a hexacopter was used for killer whale research.
"We can determine much more about a whale's health and condition from above than we can from water surface level," Barrett-Lennard said.
The drone provided several pieces of information for the research team to use for the whales' population management, Gizmag reported. The team was able to observe pregnancies and find whales that had unhealthy body conditions.
"Killer whales can buffer short-term lack of food by living on their blubber, and substituting water into their blubber layer, so they camouflage it when they are in poor condition," Barrett-Lennard said. "From above, we can observe and assess their girth, and know how much earlier when they are in trouble."
The researchers also found that the drone's noise didn't cause any problems for the whales, as they weren't able to hear or see it at its altitude, CNET reported.
"We saw fish chases, youngsters playing, a great deal of touching and social behavior within family groups, killer whales and dolphins swimming together peacefully and much more. The bottom line is that the method worked wonderfully well," Barrett-Lennard said.
The killer whale research is the latest instance of drones being used in conservation effort, including fighting illegal fishing in Belize and preserving rhino populations in Africa, Gizmag reported.
"Photogrammetry using a hexacopter is an important new tool," Barrett-Lennard. "It's going to change the way we do field research on whales."
