Assessing use of and reaction to unmanned aerial systems in gray and harbor seals during breeding and molt in the UK

Abstract

Wildlife biology applications of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are extensive. Survey, identification, and measurement using UAS equipped with appropriate sensors can now be added to the suite of techniques available for monitoring animals -here we detail our experiences in using UAS to obtain detailed information from groups of seals, which can be difficult to observe from land. Trial flights to survey gray and harbor seals using a range of different platforms and imaging systems have been carried out with varying success at a number of sites in Scotland over the last two years. The best performing UAS system was determined by site, field situation, and the data required. Our systems routinely allow relative abundance, species, age-class, and individual identity to be obtained from images currently, with measures of body size also obtainable but open to refinement. However, the impacts of UAS on target species can also be variable and should be monitored closely. We found variable responses to UAS flights, possibly related to the animals' experience of previous disturbance.Key words: UAS, wildlife, seals, photo-ID, photogrammetry, behaviour.Résumé : L'utilisation des systèmes aériens sans pilote (UAS) en biologie faunique ne cesse d'augmenter. Les levés, l'identification et les mesures utilisant les UAS munis de capteurs appropriés font maintenant partie de l'ensemble des techniques disponibles pour surveiller les animaux -ici, nous exposons en détail nos expériences d'utilisation des UAS pour obtenir des informations détaillées sur des groupes de phoques, qui peuvent être difficiles à observer à partir de la terre. Des vols d'essais pour faire le levé des phoques gris et communs utilisant une gamme de plateformes et de systèmes d'imagerie ont été réalisés avec un niveau de succès varié à un nombre de sites en Écosse au cours de deux dernières années. On a déterminé l'UAS le plus performant selon le site, la situation sur le terrain et les données requises. Nos systèmes permettent de couramment obtenir l'abondance relative, les espèces, la classe d'âge et l'identité particulière à partir d'images, y compris les mesures de la masse corporelle mais pouvant être perfectionnées. Cependant, les effets des UAS sur les espèces ciblées peuvent varier et doivent être surveillés de près. Nous avons trouvé des réactions variées aux vols d'UAS, probablement lié à l'expérience des animaux suite à des perturbations antérieures.Mots-clés : système aérien sans pilote (UAS), faune, phoques, photo-identificateur, photogrammétrie, comportement.

The Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems in Marine Mammal Research

“…A more recent study tested three different VTOL UAS platforms for the photo-identification and the measurement of gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the UK [13].…”

“…In particular, UAS have been proposed as a tool for marine mammal surveys, as they allow researchers to reach remote areas and observe animals from an advantageous perspective, being less invasive than standard aircraft [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Despite the challenges of operating at sea [10], UAS have been used for a number of marine mammal research applications, from abundance surveys [8,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] to the measurement of…”

An Economical Custom-Built Drone for Assessing Whale Health

“…In the marine environment, UAVs are revolutionizing the way marine species can be studied due to their small size, apparent minimal disturbance of wildlife and improved safety for both operators and animals (Nowacek et al, 2016;Fiori et al, 2017). UAVs have been utilized for a wide variety of applications including aerial surveys, monitoring, habitat use, abundance estimates, photogrammetry and biological sampling e.g., whale "blow" (Hogg et al, 2009;Acevedo-Whitehouse et al, 2010;Hodgson et al, 2013;Durban et al, 2015;Pomeroy et al, 2016;Schofield et al, 2017).…”

A UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)-approved operations manual for safe deployment of lightweight drones in research

“…Pomeroy, O'Connor, and Davies 2015;Woodget et al 2015Woodget et al , 2016, others have operated their RPAS under the existing authorizations granted to hobbyist users (CAA 2013) which permit researchers to carry out flights in uncongested areas so long as permission from relevant landowners is first obtained (DeBell et al 2015;e.g. Puttock et al 2015e.g.…”

“…Some papers have already sought to determine the effects of drone disturbance on wildlife (e.g. Pomeroy, O'Connor, and Davies 2015;McEvoy, Hall, and McDonald 2016) but most recently, work by Hodgson and Koh (2016) states that, 'there is a need for a code of best practice in the use of UAVs to mitigate or alleviate risks' to third parties. In the context of biological research, this relates primarily to disturbances to wildlife, but such consideration should be given also to safe operations and minimizing disturbance in a wide variety of settings.…”