Drones warning over breeding seals in Pembrokeshire

6 September 2019

Breeding seals are being disturbed by drones flying near them, experts have warned.

The grey seal population in Pembrokeshire breeds from August to November, but a lack of awareness has led to them being scared into the water with the potential not to return.

Research by Swansea University has so far found drones with four propellers are most likely to cause problems.

It has prompted calls for users to learn about flying them near wildlife.

Paul Renfro, who works with the Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum, said a ban would be difficult to enforce but "acting responsibly" would make a difference.

"Plan ahead, know where the sensitive areas are and keep your distance," he said. "If the seals are starting to notice you, then you're too close.

"Their eyes almost bulge and you can see the stress in their face. When they are starting to look at you then that's close enough."

Pembrokeshire has one of the biggest breeding colonies of grey seals in south west Britain.

While numbers have been struggling in other areas, one of the highest ever annual birth rates was recorded for seals pups last year in west Wales.

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Koala-spotting drones proves a flying success

Date:  March 1, 2019

Source:  Queensland University of Technology

QUT researchers have developed an innovative method for detecting koala populations using drones and infrared imaging that is more reliable and less invasive than traditional animal population monitoring techniques.

In the study, published in Nature journal Scientific Reports, the researchers detail the technique that involves an algorithm for locating the koalas using drones that can detect heat signatures.

The technique has great potential to improve management of koala populations and other threatened species as well as being used to detect invasive species.

Dr Grant Hamilton, from QUT's School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences, co-authored the study with PhD student Evangeline Corcoran and Dr Simon Denman from QUT, and John Hanger and Bree Wilson from Endeavour Veterinary Ecology.

Dr Hamilton said the researchers were able to correlate the detection of koalas from the air using ground surveys of tracked radio-collared koalas in Petrie, Queensland.

The system uses infrared imaging to detect the heat signals of the koala despite the canopy coverage of the eucalyptus trees.

"Nobody else has really managed to get good results anywhere in the world in a habitat this complex and in these kinds of numbers," Dr Hamilton said.

Other animal population detection systems by drones have been used in fairly simple scenarios such as looking for seals on a beach or animals on the savannah.

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Technology is useful, but drones alone won't save Africa's elephants

February 18, 2019 by Ross Harvey, The Conversation

Technology has made a tremendous difference in the world, in areas as diverse as health and education, and pretty much everything in between.

But is technology the weapon that will ultimately eradicate animal poaching and save various species from eradication? It's not a silver bullet, but it certainly has potential. That's why Vulcan – a company started by the late Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft – has produced a tech platform called EarthRanger to monitor protected wildlife areas by drawing in big data from cameras, animal collars and vehicle sensors. Other platforms such as SMART – a spatial monitoring and reporting tool – have also started to gain traction and operate in similar ways to EarthRanger.

Vulcan is known in the conservation world for sponsoring the Great Elephant Census. The census revealed that there are probably fewer than 400 000 savannah elephants left in the wild across Africa. It also revealed a decline of 8% a year between 2007 and 2014, largely due to poaching, either to supply the illegal ivory trade or the bushmeat trade.

A census is useful because it provides a snapshot in time and highlights the urgency of the problem. Elephants are a keystone species, environmental engineers who play irreplaceable roles in maintaining ecological integrity. They're also incredibly intelligent. Losing them is not an option. But we need more than occasional snapshots to aid conservation efforts.

New technologies, however—as a step beyond census counting—are merely a tool. Their efficacy ultimately depends on the value to the end user. A sound overarching vision and buy-in from users on the ground is also critical. At present, data collection and analysis practices vary from site to site. Without best-practice standards in this respect, all the cleverly collected data in the world may make little difference.

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Drones Are Dropping Poison on Recently Re-invaded Rats in the Galapagos – via Herp Digest

Scientists hope that they've built a better rat trap with flying poison distribution. Eliminate major predator of tortoise eggs and juveniles and bring back ex-situ breeding on islands.

By David Grossman 1/24/19 Source - Wired

ISLAND CONSERVATION

For as long as people have been creating organized communities, rats have been there to pick off the remains. As an invasive species, they're practically unparalleled in their success, much to the chagrin of the people living with them. But when they recently re-invaded Ecuador's Galápagos National Park, a new weapon proved extremely effective in the fight: drones.

While the Galápagos islands are historic for being the site of Charles Darwin's discoveries about evolution, other visitors have been less helpful. Rats first came to the Galápagos along with pirates or whalers sometime in the 17th or 18th century. While the exact timeline is unknown, they've done their damage over the years. They've curbed the births of tortoises and have laid waste to local fauna.

The rats were beaten back from the tiny North Seymour Island in 2007, but they found their way back ten years later. Since then, the challenge has been how to attack the rats without inflicting further damage on a very delicate ecosystem.

Drones provided an ideal solution. Painted blue to make them less noticeable to birds, they dropped poison pellets wherever rats were spotted. "The use of drones is more precise," says Karl Campbell, the South American director of the nonprofit group Island Conservation, in a press statement. "It also increases feasibility, and reduces eradication costs of invasive rodents in small and midsize islands worldwide.”

Earlier this month, two six-rotor drones began lacing North Seymour and a nearby islet with rat poison. Each drone could carry 44 pounds (20 kilograms) worth of poison and fly around for 15 minutes. While one of the drones suffered a mechanical difficulty, according to Nature, they were still able to cover half the island in valuable poison. The breakdown even afforded the chance for an experiment—workers spread the rest of the poison over the island by hand, allowing for an evaluation of the drones.

Island Conservation - A pilot remotely operating a drone as it flies over North Seymour Island.

Drones can't cover every part of the land—for some remote islands, only a helicopter will do. But as Campbell tells Nature, “you have to have a helicopter for a month, sometimes shipped by boat. Your expenses very quickly add up.” Drones allow for more flexibility at a cheaper price.

Craig Morley, an invasive-species specialist at the Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology in Rotorua, New Zealand, says that the drones have a chance to change how scientists view conservation work. “You used to be able to see your opponent. Now, you just a press a button and you fire a missile,” he tells Nature, drawing a comparison between scientific and military drones. “You become a little bit detached from the reality that you have killed something or somebody over there.”

While it is important to keep that detachment in mind, it is unlikely anyone in the Galápagos will miss the rats too much.

Robotic bees could pollinate plants in case of insect apocalypse

Dutch scientists say they can create swarms of bee-like drones to take over if the insects die out

Daniel Boffey in Delft

Tue 9 Oct 2018 13.15 BSTLast modified on Tue 9 Oct 2018 17.22 BST

Intensive modern farming methods and the unravelling consequences of global climate change are said to have put the future of the common bee under threat like never before.

But in Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands a group of scientists working on long-term solutions to some of the world’s thorniest problems have developed a solution that could have come straight from a sci-fi novel: robotic bees.

By reproducing some of the complex wing motion patterns and aerodynamics of fruit flies, in particular, researchers in the university’s newly opened Robohouse, a hub for Dutch expertise, believe they will be able to create swarms of bee-like drones to pollinate plants when the real-life insects have died away.

The wings of the robotic DelFly beat 17 times per second, to generate the lift needed to stay airborne and control its flight through small adjustments in their wing motion.

The researchers asked why a fly was so difficult to swat and looked to reproduce the insect’s evasive technique. The robo-bees can hover on the spot, fly in any direction, and even flip 360 degrees around pitch or roll axes. Because the robots’ wings are made of a lightweight film made of mylar, the material used in space blankets, it is safe for people to work around them.

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Research into fish schooling energy dynamics could boost autonomous swarming drones

May 28, 2018 by Christopher Packham, Tech Xplore

Researchers who want to realize autonomous swarming drones have studied the collective behavior of flocking birds and swarming insects, but a new study by a group of researchers at ETH Zurich has modeled the schooling behavior of fish. Using deep reinforcement learning, the group studied how fish draw energy from water flow and turbulence created by their own swimming schoolmates, gaining insights that could lead to low-energy, collective autonomous drone swarms. And yes, though there are many cool practical applications for the private sector and industry, militaries worldwide are interested in building fleets of autonomous swarming drones. And yes, it is creepy.

Fish schooling formations cut through largely invisible flow fields that redirect the mechanical energy of water, for which fish have to compensate individually and collectively. Changes in flow are caused by tides, water redirected past objects, and the movements of fish themselves. Over millenia, fish have adapted, becoming sensitive to these changes in mechanical energy and developing the ability to extract energy from underwater flow fields.

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Drones could Help save Sea Turtles – via Herp Digest

Clean Malaysia, 3/23/18

Drones, acting as eyes in the sky, can help protect forests against illegal loggers. They can help keep better track of wildlife. And they can also be used to help save endangered species.

Like turtles.

Researchers at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom deployed drones to keep a close eye on sea turtles in their natural habitats. The footage they have released shows several sea turtles going about their business in the wild. It’s something you would see in a wildlife documentary.

This still from footage taken by a drone shows a sea turtles in its habitat. Photo Credit: University of Exeter

Yet such drone-obtained pieces of footage does more than just provide materials for such documentaries. They can provide conservationists and biologists with vital information on the turtles’ habits and the threats they face in the wild.

“Satellite systems and aircraft transformed turtle conservation, but drones offer cheaper and often better ways to gather information,” says Dr Alan Rees, an expert at the British university’s Centre for Ecology and Conservation in Cornwall whose team has published a study on “the potential of unmanned aerial systems for sea turtle research and conservation.”

“We are learning more about their behaviour and movements at sea, and drones also give us new avenues for anti-poaching efforts,” he stresses.

That said, drones alone won’t be able to make a huge difference. Stepped-up anti-poaching initiatives with regular human patrols will remain key to ensuring that sea turtles can rebound and thrive.

How drones are being used to protect the Amazon's dolphins

Drone footage is building up the missing data on dolphin populations that is crucial to ensuring their protection and long-term survival

Sophie Yeo

Fri 26 Jan 2018 13.19 GMTLast modified on Fri 26 Jan 2018 16.07 GMT

The drone is hovering above the Amazon river, but its battery is running low. André Coelho, the chief pilot, steers it back to safety with skills perfected by playing video games. Long hours practising on Need for Speed have become a surprising asset in the effort to conserve the dolphins that live in the river.

Marcelo Oliveira, a conservation specialist at WWF Brazil, stands on the bow of the boat with arms aloft. He plucks the white drone from the air, changes the battery, and swiftly sends it back into the sky.

 Both species of Amazon river dolphin are categorised as ‘data deficient’ on the IUCN list making it harder to gain protection for them. Photograph: Alamy

Later, scientists will examine the video it has recorded for signs of the two species of dolphins that inhabit the river: the pink and bulbous boto, and the smaller, prettier tucuxi. Exactly how many live in the basin is a mystery. Some studieshave tentatively pointed to a decline of the pink dolphins in specific areas of the Amazon, but both species of dolphins are categorised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as “data deficient”.

Scientists at the Mamirauá Institute, based in the remote Amazonian town of Tefé, have teamed up with WWF Brazil to use drones to collect aerial footage of the river. These videos will help plug a data gap; conservationists have found it is difficult to argue in favour of a species you know nothing about.

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Drones confirm importance of Costa Rican waters for sea turtles-Study is first to use drones to count sea turtles in waters near nesting habitat – via Herp Digest

Date: January 16, 2018

Source: Duke University

Olive Ridley sea turtles come ashore to nest at Ostional National Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica.

Credit: Vanessa Bézy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs during mass-nesting events at Ostional National Wildlife Refuge on Costa Rica's Pacific coast, making it one of the most important nesting beaches in the world.

Now aerial drones are giving scientists deeper insights into just how important the beach and its nearshore waters are.

Using a fixed-wing drone to conduct aerial surveys of olive ridley sea turtles in waters off Ostional during four days in August 2015, scientists from Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) estimate turtle densities there may reach as high as 2,086 animals per square kilometer during peak nesting season.

"These are extraordinary numbers, much higher than any of us anticipated," said Seth Sykora-Bodie, a PhD student at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, who co-led the study with Vanessa Bézy, a PhD candidate at UNC-CH.

"Our findings confirm drones can be used as a powerful tool to study sea turtle abundance at sea, and reveal incredible densities of turtles in Ostional's nearshore habitat," said Bézy. "The development of this methodology provides vital new insights for future conservation and research.”

Equipping the drone with a high-resolution digital camera with near-infrared vision and flying it just 90 meters above the ocean expanded the field of view and significantly increased image clarity, allowing the researchers to detect many turtles swimming just below the water's surface. Observers relying only on visual sightings made from boats could easily miss these submerged animals because of their angle of view and the clarity of the water, Sykora-Bodie said.

The researchers published their peer-reviewed paper Dec. 18 in Scientific Reports. It is the first study to use unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones, to estimate the abundance of sea turtle populations.

Traditionally, scientists have collected this type of abundance data using mark-and-recapture studies, in-water surveys, and censuses of turtles observed on nesting beaches. These methods can be costly and time-consuming, incur potential risks to both the observers and the animals, and increase the likelihood that turtles may be missed or double-counted.

The new pilot study shows that using camera-equipped drones provides a safe, cost-effective and scientifically robust alternative.

"Because of the clarity of the images we can collect, and the greater flexibility we have in where, when and how we collect them, this approach provides us with better data for understanding population status and trends, which can then be used to inform management decisions and develop conservation measures tailored to individual populations, locations and time frames," Sykora-Bodie said.

Olive ridleys are classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. One of the chief threats they face is being accidentally caught and killed by hooks and other fishing gear used by longline and trawl fisheries.

To conduct the newly published study, researchers from Duke's Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing Labflew an eBee senseFly fixed-wing drone equipped with a near-infrared camera over a three-kilometer stretch of nearshore water twice daily -- morning and evening -- on four consecutive days during a mass-nesting event, or arribada, in August 2015. By analyzing the captured images, they identified 684 confirmed turtle sightings and 409 probable sightings.

Using methods that scientists regularly employ for estimating the population abundance of marine species based on surface sightings in traditional surveys, Sykora-Bodie and his colleagues then calculated a low-end daily estimate of up to 1,299 turtles per square kilometer in the surveyed area, and a high-end estimate of up to 2,086 turtles. Long-term surveys, coupled with further research on olive ridleys' dive profile -- how deep they dive, and how long they remain under water -- will be needed to refine these estimates.

Story Source:

Materials provided by Duke University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

            1          Seth T. Sykora-Bodie, Vanessa Bezy, David W. Johnston, Everette Newton, Kenneth J. Lohmann. Quantifying Nearshore Sea Turtle Densities: Applications of Unmanned Aerial Systems for Population Assessments. Scientific Reports, 2017; 7 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17719-x

Drone photos offer faster, cheaper data on key Antarctic species

Fly drone or capture wild leopard seal? Scientists choose drone for data

Date: November 30, 2017

Source:  NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region

Summary:

Scientists flying drones in Antarctica have demonstrated a cheaper, faster and simpler way to gauge the condition of leopard seals, which can weigh more than a half ton and reflect the health of the Antarctic ecosystem that they and a variety of commercial fisheries rely on.

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Drones to unleash vaccine-laced M&Ms in bid to save endangered ferrets

US Fish and Wildlife Service to target diseased prairie dogs, food for the ferrets, via specially designed drones that shoot the candies in three directions at once

Oliver Milman

Tuesday 12 July 201617.17 BSTLast modified on Tuesday 12 July 201617.55 BST

The US government is set to unleash drones that fire vaccine-covered M&Ms in a bid to save the endangered black-footed ferret, a species that is facing a plague epidemic across America’s great plains.

The US Fish and Wildlife (FWS) has developed a plan to bombard ferret habitat in Montana with the vaccine, which will be administered via specially designed drones that will be able to shoot M&Ms in three directions simultaneously.

The vaccines will be targeted at the prairie dog population at the UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge in north-eastern Montana. Black footed ferrets – North America’s only native ferret – are completely dependent upon prairie dogs, which are a type of burrowing rodent, for their food and shelter.

Both black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs are susceptible to the sylvatic plague, a flea-borne disease spread from rats that were introduced from ships arriving in California in the 1800s. While individual ferrets can be vaccinated by an injection, wildlife officials have found it difficult to protect prairie dogs over large areas.

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Using drones without disturbing wildlife

Date: May 23, 2016

Source: Cell Press

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), more popularly known as drones, are increasingly employed to monitor and protect wildlife. But researchers writing in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on May 23 say that steps should be taken to ensure that UAV operations are not causing undue stress to animals.

"Even though an animal might not appear to be disturbed, it could be quite stressed--for example, a bird may choose to remain near a UAV even when stressed because it is incubating an egg or protecting its hatchling," says Jarrod Hodgson of The University of Adelaide in Australia. "It is likely that animal responses vary depending on a variety of factors, including the species, environmental and historical context, and the type of UAV and its method of operation."

Studies have shown that UAVs can be more efficient than traditional approaches to wildlife monitoring and can provide more precise observational data. Accordingly, there has been a considerable increase in the use of UAVs for research purposes.

In the new paper, Hodgson and colleague Lian Pin Koh develop a code of best practices intended to help mitigate or alleviate potential disturbance to wildlife related to UAV use. Their goal is to ensure that "UAVs can be a powerful, low-impact ecological survey tool."

Hodgson and Koh offer the following recommendations:

In cases where the evidence is lacking, UAV users should consult with appropriate experts and proceed with an abundance of caution. The researchers also say that further study on the impact of UAVs is needed.

Read more … 

Bats' flight technique could lead to better drones

Date: May 4, 2016

Source: Lund University

Long-eared bats are assisted in flight by their ears and body, according to a study by researchers at Lund University in Sweden. The recent findings improve researchers' understanding of the bats' flying technique and could be significant for the future development of drones, among other things.

Contrary to what researchers previously assumed, Christoffer Johansson Westheim and his colleagues at Lund University show that long-eared bats are helped in flight by their large ears.

"We show how the air behind the body of a long-eared bat accelerates downwards, which means that the body and ears provide lift. This distinguishes the long-eared bats from other species that have been studied and indicates that the large ears do not merely create strong resistance, but also assist the animal in staying aloft," says Christoffer Johansson Westheim.

The findings entail a greater understanding of the flight technique of bats. They also highlight the evolutionary conflict between flying as efficiently as possible and eco-locating, i.e. discovering objects by sending out soundwaves and perceiving the resulting echoes.

Another discovery made during the experiments and never previously described in research is how the bats generate forward motion when flying slowly. The forward motion is generated when the wings are held high and away from the body at the end of each beat.

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Scientists turn to drones to count growing seal colonies (Update)

February 5, 2016 by By Patrick Whittle

On a remote island off of Nantucket, scientists are using a tool most commonly associated with war and surveillance to get a look at fuzzy baby seals.

Researchers who want to get a handle on the growth of New England's gray seal population have been using drones as part of an effort to photograph the animals, which gather in huge numbers on remote islands.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration used a pair of unmanned aircraft on Muskeget Island off of Massachusetts to take pictures of seal pups in January. The island is the biggest gray seal breeding colony in the country.

The pictures will help scientists find how many gray seals there are in Northeastern waters, said Kimberly Murray, the coordinator of the seal research program at NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

"We need to know how many seals there are before we can know what's going on, and how to manage them. Or, I should say, manage us," Murray said.

The population of gray seals, which can grow to more than 600 pounds as adults, has rebounded since the mid-20th century after being decimated by hunting. The growth of the seals has generated some complaints from charter fishing boat operators and beachgoers, creating a need for data about their population.

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Mexico Deploys Drones to Protect Sea Turtle Nesting Grounds - via Herp Digest

MEXICO CITY — Aug 19, 2015, 6:16 PM ET

Mexican officials say they have begun flying two drones over sea turtle nesting grounds on the Pacific coast to better monitor and protect the sensitive habitats.

Federal prosecutor for environmental protection Guillermo Haro Belchez said Wednesday that the drones are watching over La Escobilla and Morro Ayuta beaches in Oaxaca state. Officials aim for "full coverage" of the area to help them fight poaching.

August marks the start of peak nesting season, and officials are working to safeguard the endangered reptiles. They are protected under Mexican law.

La Escobilla experiences more sea turtle nesting than any other location on Earth, with some 1.1 million nests there last year. About 36 million sea turtles were born in all of Mexico in 2014.

Mexico to employ drones in tracking endangered porpoise species

Fewer than 100 of the elusive vaquita marina remain and the drones will be used to police gillnet fishers who can trap the porpoise in their nets

Associated Press in Mexico City

theguardian.com, Tuesday 20 January 2015 16.16 GMT

Mexico has begun testing unmanned drones that could help it save the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise, which is threatened by illegal fishing in the upper Sea of Cortez.

Alejandro del Mazo, an assistant prosecutor with Mexico’s environmental protection agency, said on Monday he hopes to have three drones patrolling the vaquita’s habitat in coming months. The sea, also known as the Gulf of California, is the only place vaquitas are found.

“We are considering the use of advanced technology, because drones would allow us to have permanent aerial patrols in the area and be able to react much more efficiently and quickly,” Del Mazo said.

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Drones Capture Stunning Killer Whale Footage | Video

Tiny flying drones have captured unprecedented footage of killer whales off the coast of Canada.
Watch video ....

Analysis Of Moth Flight-Mechanics Could Result In Development Of Biobot Drones

August 21, 2014

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports – Your Universe Online

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a way to convert moths into miniature drones by electronically manipulating their flight muscles and monitoring the signals the insects use to control them.

Dr. Alper Bozkurt, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and colleagues from NC State and Cornell University devised a method to attach electrodes to a moth during its pupal stage, when it is still in a cocoon and undergoing metamorphosis. The research could lead to the development of remote-controlled emergency-response “biobots,” while providing new insights about how a moth coordinates its muscles during flight.

“In the big picture, we want to know whether we can control the movement of moths for use in applications such as search and rescue operations,” said Dr. Bozkurt, who co-authored a Journal of Visualized Experiments (JOVE) paper on the research.

“The idea would be to attach sensors to moths in order to create a flexible, aerial sensor network that can identify survivors or public health hazards in the wake of a disaster,” he added. “By watching how the moth uses its wings to steer while in flight, and matching those movements with their corresponding electromyographic signals, we’re getting a much better understanding of how moths maneuver through the air.”

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Nature inspires drones of the future

Date:

May 23, 2014

Source:

Institute of Physics

Summary:

Researchers have been taking tips from nature to build the next generation of flying robots. Based on the mechanisms adopted by birds, bats, insects and snakes, scientists have developed solutions to some of the common problems that drones could be faced with when navigating through an urban environment and performing novel tasks for the benefit of society.

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Drones to be deployed across Kenya to combat poaching

The Kenya Wildlife Service is to deploy drones in all 52 of the country’s national parks and reserves in an attempt to combat the poaching of elephants and rhinos. The announcement follows a successful pilot project at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, as reported in January in Wildlife Extra, in which the use of the unmanned, remotely controlled aircraft was found to reduce poaching by as much as 96 per cent.

Since 2012, Kenya has lost more than 435 elephants and around 400 rhinos to poachers, driven primarily by the demand for ivory and rhino horn in Asia. The drones provide 24-hour aerial surveillance monitor the landscape and movement of the animals using radio frequencies and have the ability to spot poachers before they have killed an animal. The £103 million project is being funded by Kenya along with the US, Netherlands, France and Canada.

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