Researchers from the Vancouver Aquarium in Canada and the USA's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are using aerial drones -- custom-built marine hexacopters to be specific -- to keep track of the health of endangered killer whales.
The drones track the whales from a distance of 30 meters, far enough to ensure that it doesn't disturb the whales or intrude on their behavior but just close enough to be able to collect detailed photographs -- over 30,000 photographs have already been collected over the course of 60 drone flights.
The project is still in its infancy but is already a success -- the drones have spotted killer whale pregnancies that wouldn't have been detected otherwise, and has helped identify unhealthy whales.
Killer Whale-Monitoring Drones
Aerial Drones Are Being Used to Track Killer Whales
Trend Themes
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Aerial Drones for Animal Monitoring — Opportunity for businesses to develop specialized drones for monitoring and tracking the health of endangered animals.
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Remote Wildlife Data Collection — Disruptive innovation opportunity to create remote data collection systems using drones for wildlife conservation and research.
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Photographic Analysis and AI — Opportunity for AI-powered systems to analyze large amounts of photographic data collected by drones for valuable insights and research.
Industry Implications
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Drone Manufacturing — Drone manufacturers can capitalize on the growing demand for specialized drones designed for wildlife monitoring and conservation.
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Wildlife Conservation — Wildlife conservation organizations can adopt and implement drone technology to enhance monitoring and data collection efforts.
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Artificial Intelligence — AI companies can develop advanced algorithms and systems to analyze and interpret photographic data collected by drones for wildlife research purposes.