Suction-cup-attached biologging tags have led to major advances in our understanding of large whale behaviour. Getting close enough to a whale at sea to safely attach a tag is a major limiting factor when deploying these systems. Here we present an uncrewed aerial system (UAS)-based tagging technique for free-swimming large whales and provide data on efficacy from field testing on blue () and fin () whales. Rapid transit speed and the bird's-eye view of the animal during UAS tagging contributed to the technique's success. During 8 days of field testing, we had 29 occasions when a focal animal was identified for attempted tagging and tags were successfully attached 21 times. The technique was efficient, with mean flight time of 2 min 45 s from launch to deployment and a mean distance of 490 m from the launch vessel to tagged animal, reducing potential adverse effects resulting from close approaches for tagging. These data indicate that UAS are capable of attaching biologging tags to free-swimming large whales quickly and from large distances, potentially increasing success rates, decreasing attempt times, and reducing animal disruption during tagging.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.221376 | DOI Listing |
J Acoust Soc Am
December 2024
Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
Marine mammals are known to respond to various human noises, including and in certain cases, strongly, to military active sonar. Responses include small and short-term changes in diving behavior, horizontal avoidance of an ensonified area, and mass strandings. Considerable research has been conducted using short-term biologging tags to understand these responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIEEE Sens J
May 2024
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Dept. of Computer Science, University of California - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Long-term and fine-grained maritime localization and sensing is challenging due to sporadic connectivity, constrained power budget, limited footprint, and hostile environment. In this paper, we present the design considerations and implementation of , a rugged ultra-low-footprint undersea sensor tag with on-device AI-driven localization, online communication, and energy-harvesting capabilities. uses on-chip (< 30 kB) neural networks to track underwater objects within 3 meters with ~6 minutes of GPS outage from 9DoF inertial sensor readings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
November 2024
Hatherly Laboratories, University of Exeter, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4PS, UK.
Proc Biol Sci
November 2024
Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU), Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK.
Animal-borne instruments are essential research tools for ecologists and physiologists. An increasing number of studies have shown impacts of carrying a tag on behaviour and energetics, which can have implications for animal welfare and data validity. Such impacts are a result of the additional mass and/or drag loads, with the latter requiring empirical measurements or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to estimate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMov Ecol
October 2024
Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany.
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