A semi-automated method using object-based image analysis (OBIA) to detect and enumerate beluga whales in summer from very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery.

Very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery has proven to be useful for detection of large to medium cetaceans, such as odontocetes and offers some significant advantages over traditional detection methods. However, the significant time investment needed to manually read satellite imagery is currently a limiting factor to use this method across large open ocean regions. The objective of this study is to develop a semi-automated detection method using object-based image analysis to identify beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in open water (summer) ocean conditions in the Arctic using panchromatic WorldView-3 satellite imagery and compare the detection time between human read and algorithm detected imagery.