Using Drones To Track Sea Turtles

We have been learning about many marine organisms in class.  One interesting question that is raised from all of the learning from this class is: how do scientists keep accurate records for these animals that live within the ocean context?  The answer to this question is that scientists are able to keep track of these organisms through technological advances with time.  Organisms that live on the shore or on land are obviously easier to keep track of because it is easier to visually see what they are doing in their habitats.  However, some species that live within the water are much harder to keep track of.  One of these species includes the sea turtle.  

An article in the Science Daily outlines the technology that scientists use in order to track the everyday life of the sea turtle.  The newest development in technology that scientists are using to track sea turtles is the drone.  In order to keep track of what sea turtles are doing in their natural habitats without disturbing the turtles, scientists are starting to use drones within these marine habitats.

 These drones keep scientists and the general public more aware of sea turtle conservation.  Before scientists started using these drones, they used satellite systems, aircrafts, and observed different organisms on foot.  Although satellite systems and aircraft paved the way toward technology used for sea turtle conservation awareness, they were not always the most cost effective means in providing relevant information for scientists and the general public.  The major disadvantages of using aircraft and observing the sea turtles on foot were that they were slower and demanded a high amount of human labor.  A major advantage of the drones are that they are cheaper and are an overall better tool when collecting information.  

In general, Drones are used to record thousands of hours of pictures and videos of different organisms within their natural habitat.  This reiterates why drones are so advantageous in that they do what no human can do, which is sit in nature with animals for thousands of hours at a time.  This would be especially hard with marine organisms being that humans can only be in the water for smaller periods at a time.  Another major role that a drone will continue to play is assisting with anti-poaching regulations.  Ideally, as technology within the drones progresses, the drone should be able to detect whether there is a person (who should not be there) with the animal population.  In the case of the sea turtles, this would be very advantageous considering they are an endangered species. 

Overall, the use of drones has many advantages within the animal kingdom.  They are specifically advantageous for marine organisms because they can reach hard to get to places and stay there for hours upon hours.  As technology continues to develop, drones will be more useful in detecting poachers within endangered species such as the sea turtle. 

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-319-16178-5_17.pdf

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180228085420.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Fmarine_biology+%28Marine+Biology+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/sea-turtle