AV News: Conservation Research with Drones

Scientists and researchers have started to use drones in the field. With an aerial perspective, they can collect data like never before. We hope to see more drones used like this in the future!
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Turns out drones are not just for catching sweet footage! From aerial surveying to package delivery, drones have found a role for themselves to go beyond what humans could normally do. Wildlife researchers across the globe have begun to use drones in their attempts to collect scientific data from a new perspective.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (or WHOI) is using drones to beef-up their wildlife conservation efforts. They are no stranger to using technology for research; Wood Hole researchers were part of the team that discovered the Titanic wreck back in 1985. Decades later- they started using drones in their research- to monitor algae in ponds using infrared aerial photography. But now they are using drones to collect breathing samples of humpback whales. To do so, they attached a petri dish to a drone. The drone flies over the blowhole of the surfacing whales and catches a sample of their snot as it exhales. It may seem gross, but it’s all in the name of science! When the drone returns to the ship, the sample is immediately frozen and taken to a lab.
With the span of three weeks, the researchers clocked in 67 drone flights. They kept tabs on 35 different whales and were able to gather 16 different snot samples. From these samples they are able to diagnose their overall health and figure out where they had been based on the microbes found in each breathing sample.
Meanwhile, researchers in Alabama have found two endangered species of fish with the help of a drone. The Rush Darter and the Watercress Darter can only be found in a few creeks in Jefferson County, Alabama. This was the first time that the two species were found in the same creek. Dr. David Aarons was the drone pilot who helped locate these species of fish.
“Well what we were looking for was using the drone to get aerial surveys to look for darter habitat. We couldn’t really see the fish in the water because they’re pretty much bottom dwellers. But we were looking mainly for watercress and rush, which are the plants that the watercress darter and the rush darter are known to be associated with.”
After spotting the ideal habitats, the researchers set up some nets to examine the fish. They found seven rush darters and fifteen watercress darters, all in the same creek. The team has since submitted their findings to the Alabama Academy of Sciences where they are currently awaiting peer review before it can be published.

“Drone tech is going to help a lot of the conservationist, ecologist, botanists, and the biologists and that sort of thing. I’d really like to see it take off and with these new cameras, the 4K cameras, that’s really going to be a boost to it also.”
Dr. Aarons along with the other researchers believe that drones will prove to be a viable tool for conservation efforts in the future.

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