Assessment of known impacts of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) on marine mammals: data gaps and recommendations for researchers in the United States

Abstract

The development of advanced technologies to enhance conservation science often outpaces the abilities of wildlife managers to assess and ensure such new tools are safely used in proximity to wild animals. Recently, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have become more accessible to civilian operators and are quickly being integrated into existing research paradigms to replace manned aircraft. Several federal statutes require scientists to obtain research permits to closely approach protected species of wildlife, such as marine mammals, but the lack of available information on the effects of UAS operations on these species has made it difficult to evaluate and mitigate potential impacts. Here, we present a synthesis of the current state of scientific understanding of the impacts of UAS usage near marine mammals. We also identify key data gaps that are currently limiting the ability of marine resource managers to develop appropriate guidelines, policies, or regulations for safe and responsible operation of UAS near marine mammals. We recommend researchers prioritize collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data on marine mammal responses to UAS when using the devices to better inform the scientific community, regulators, and hobbyists about potential effects and assist with the development of appropriate mitigation measures.

The Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems in Marine Mammal Research

“…Despite their value for research, concerns have been raised regarding the risk of harassment for the targeted animals (e.g., [5,13,64]). Consequently, scientific best practices for the use of UAS in wildlife surveys are being developed in order to minimize the disturbance levels.…”

“…Consequently, scientific best practices for the use of UAS in wildlife surveys are being developed in order to minimize the disturbance levels. That is, systematic assessment of the potential impacts on the targeted species is of paramount importance for the survey design [3,5,65]. Finally, the current low endurance of VTOL UAV still represents a limitation, requiring back-up options to be considered for long observations.…”

“…In particular, several factors that affect the responses have to be considered, such as the targeted species [30], ecotypes and individuals [55], the aircraft type [29], and the behavioral state at the time of the exposure [30]. Moreover, the acoustic stimuli can be modulated by characteristic of the surveyed area, such as sea state, wind speed, and geomorphology of the coastal environment [5]. The idea of combining boat observation with aerial imagery for marine mammal behavior surveys is not new.…”

“…In particular, UAS have been proposed as a tool for marine mammal surveys, as they allow researchers to reach remote areas and observe animals from an advantageous perspective, being less invasive than standard aircraft [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Despite the challenges of operating at sea [10], UAS have been used for a number of marine mammal research applications, from abundance surveys [8,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] to the measurement of…”

An Economical Custom-Built Drone for Assessing Whale Health

“…Rapid advances in the technology underpinning Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs also known as Unmanned Aircraft Systems or drones), are driving new and innovative environmental applications (Koh and Wich, 2012;Anderson and Gaston, 2013;Christie et al, 2016;Smith et al, 2016;Duffy et al, 2017). The application of UAVs in conservation science makes it possible to collect information from dangerous and inaccessible environments and answer research questions that were previously limited to the hypothetical (Harvey et al, 2016).…”