The potential of unmanned aerial systems for sea turtle research and conservation: a review and future directions

Abstract

The use of satellite systems and manned aircraft surveys for remote data collection has been shown to be transformative for sea turtle conservation and research by enabling the collection of data on turtles and their habitats over larger areas than can be achieved by surveys on foot or by boat. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones are increasingly being adopted to gather data, at previously unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions in diverse geographic locations. This easily accessible, low-cost tool is improving existing research methods and enabling novel approaches in marine turtle ecology and conservation. Here we review the diverse ways in which incorporating inexpensive UAVs may reduce costs and field time while improving safety and data quality and quantity over existing methods for studies on turtle nesting, at-sea distribution and behaviour surveys, as well as expanding into new avenues such as surveillance against illegal take. Furthermore, we highlight the impact that high-quality aerial imagery captured by UAVs can have for public outreach and engagement. This technology does not come without challenges. We discuss the potential constraints of these systems within the ethical and legal frameworks which researchers must operate and the difficulties that can result with regard to storage and analysis of large amounts of imagery. We then suggest areas where technological development could further expand the utility of UAVs as data-gathering tools; for example, functioning as downloading nodes for data collected by sensors placed on turtles. Development of methods for the use of UAVs in sea turtle research will serve as case studies for use with other marine and terrestrial taxa.

Quantifying Nearshore Sea Turtle Densities: Applications of Unmanned Aerial Systems for Population Assessments

“…In addition to providing a quick and easy method for collecting significant amounts of data at a comparatively lower cost, UAS can also approach closer than traditional aerial and shipboard surveys, providing higher resolution data that is more reliable due to the reduction in perception bias. Although this study shows that UAS surveys can stand alone as a methodological approach, they can also be used in combination with other traditional survey methods 14 . By combining data from multiple methods, researchers will be able to identify standard corrections for converting between datasets collected using different survey methods.…”

“…Our experience and others’ (see reviews: Durban et al ., 2015 16 ; Rees et al In Press 14 ; Smith et al . 2016 15 ) indicate that impacts from UAS are minimal in comparison to those caused by other data collection methods (e.g., manned aircraft, boat-based surveys, in-water captures).…”

“…Such methods, however, are often time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly. As an alternative or complementary technique, researchers have increasingly employed fixed-wing and vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial systems (UAS) as data collection platforms for monitoring populations 14 . These new approaches can be safer, more cost-effective, reduce the likelihood of disturbance and behavioral impacts, and have the potential to significantly improve the accuracy of population surveys 15 .…”

Assessing climate change associated sea‐level rise impacts on sea turtle nesting beaches using drones, photogrammetry and a novel GPS system

“…Our final orthophotos (Figure ) are photo‐realistic and are easier to visually interpret than outputs obtained through traditional survey methods, making it useful not only for scientific analysis but also as an effective visual aid for enabling science communication and knowledge transfer to the general public and decision‐makers, including planning professionals addressing other coastal development issues, such as water‐front tourism development. Similarly, the SfM‐derived DTM can be used for virtual “fly‐throughs” to engender a sense of reality (as we show in supplemental video in Rees et al, ). The accurate DTM and orthophoto allow the retrieval of valuable information concerning nest elevation and nest site preferences of each sea turtle population.…”

New views of humpback whale flow dynamics and oral morphology during prey engulfment

“…These new technologies are rapidly changing the study of wildlife (Bevan et al 2016, Rümmler et al 2016, Schofield et al 2017, Sykora-Bodie et al 2017, Rees et al 2018, Rieucau et al 2018, Weimerskirch et al 2018, Verfuss et al 2019, especially in marine settings where observation had been mostly limited to vessel-based or airborne observers. Because new camera systems allow more rapid (near instantaneous) changes in orientation than most boats and manned aircraft can achieve, animals can be followed and stable vantage points maintained or switched very quickly (Hodgson et al 2013(Hodgson et al , 2017Goebel et al 2015;Koski et al 2015;Durban et al 2016;Fiori et al 2017;Johnston et al 2017;Krause et al 2017;Torres 2017;Burnett et al 2018;Torres et al 2018).…”