Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Marine Mammal Research: A Review of Current Applications and Challenges
Research on the ecology and biology of marine mammal populations is necessary to understand ecosystem dynamics and to support conservation management. Emerging monitoring tools and instruments offer the opportunity to obtain such information in an affordable and effective way. In recent years, unman...
| Autores: | , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2023 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/340164 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/340164 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Marine mammal UAV Drone Monitoring Cetacean Pinniped Sirenian |
| Sumario: | Research on the ecology and biology of marine mammal populations is necessary to understand ecosystem dynamics and to support conservation management. Emerging monitoring tools and instruments offer the opportunity to obtain such information in an affordable and effective way. In recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become an important tool in the study of marine mammals. Here, we reviewed 169 research articles using UAVs to study marine mammals, published up until December 2022. The goals of these studies included estimating the number of individuals in populations and groups via photo-identification, determining biometrics and body condition through photogrammetry, collecting blow samples, and studying behavioural patterns. UAVs can be a valuable, non-invasive, and useful tool for a wide range of applications in marine mammal research. However, it is important to consider some limitations of this technology, mainly associated with autonomy, resistance to the marine environment, and data processing time, which could probably be overcome in the near future. |
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