![]() Today, larger fixed-wing and smaller helicopter-style drones are helping transform wildlife and habitat research in some of the world’s most remote and ecologically sensitive areas. ![]() Such targeted spraying is healthier for the ecosystem and “important for fish, invertebrates, birds and other fauna,” Burgess says. The drone’s images were clear enough to distinguish between invasives and natives, allowing managers to target invasives with aerial herbicides instead of broadcast spraying over wide areas. Army Corps of Engineers used this new drone to study invasive plants that were choking Lake Okeechobee. The team then built an even bigger, lighter aircraft with a 40-minute flight time. From 2003 to 2006, its missions included surveying wading birds and manatees in Florida, sage-grouse mating fields in Idaho and bison in Montana. Dubbed the Tadpole, it flew for 30 minutes, sending video to a ground controller. They eventually developed a battery-powered, fixed-wing drone with a 6-foot wingspan, GPS, internal navigation and video camera. Geological Survey (USGS) National Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office in Denver.Ī pioneer in the field, Burgess and colleagues began experimenting with drones in 1998 while seeking a way to spot alligator nests in the Everglades. In this fast-growing field, “the sky’s the limit,” says Matt Burgess with the U.S. “The sky’s the limit”įor conservationists who want to work more safely, accurately and economically, drones are becoming an answer. Over Mexico’s Loreto Bay, an Ocean Alliance “SnotBot” drone surveys a blue whale mother and calf. “Not only is it safer, but it’s giving us better data.” ![]() “Safety is the key for why we’re doing this,” says Alcorn. And they can fly drones in weather that would have grounded manned choppers. Traveling by boat and using the hexacopter, they can cover 100 miles of the river and photograph 35 spawning sites in three days, which is faster and more accurate than the old method. These tests were so encouraging that the biologists went to drone-only redd counts in 2016. They could also repeatedly review the drone imagery to extract more information. Not only did the drone capture data as accurately as the helicopter survey, but its high-resolution imagery was so good biologists could distinguish between conjoined nests. In 2011, they began testing a hexacopter, a remotely piloted drone with six rotary blades and a camera that could hover over the river taking video. ![]() So Idaho Power biologists Phil Groves and Brad Alcorn started looking for a better way to work. Tragically, aircraft crashes are the leading cause of work-related death for wildlife researchers. In 2010, two of those biologists and their pilot died when their helicopter crashed while working on a similar river. To make the counts, state biologists would look down from the chopper’s open door, taking notes. Yet the Idaho Power Company, which controls the Hells Canyon Dam, routinely flew helicopter surveys through the canyon each autumn to count Chinook salmon nests, or redds, part of their effort to monitor salmon spawning in waters below the dam. Crosswinds buffet the airspace, fog rises off the river, and the region is laced with power lines. HELLS CANYON ON THE SNAKE RIVER in Idaho is a dangerous place to fly. “Researchers can get data about body size, population size, behavior and health from this new technology,” says drone pilot Shayna Brody. Like miniature satellites amassing data, drones are forging a new frontier in wildlife research-and saving lives in the process.Īlong the California coast, sea lions and cormorants rest as a drone photographs them from above. ![]()
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