Research drones will again take to the skies to help understand why the Southern Right Whale remains a critically endangered species.
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The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) will use drone flights over Warrnambool’s Logans Beach and areas around Portland in coming weeks to count and identify whale calves and mothers and what factors may be affecting population growth and distribution.
“We’ll be using the drones to identify whale calves and their mothers, through high-resolution images of their callosity patterns,” DELWP Barwon South West Natural Environment Programs Officer Mandy Watson, who is leading the study, said.
“Callosity patterns are thickened skin growths, which are unique to each individual whale.
“The photo-identification will help us track whales, and in particular calves, along the Australian coast during future winter breeding seasons.
“At least 90 calves have been recorded at Logans Beach since the 1980s, but little is known about what happens to the calves once they leave and migrate to sub-Antarctic feeding grounds. As the Southern Right Whale population around Australia’s south-east is estimated to be only around 250, this information will develop our understanding about what factors may be affecting the population growth and distribution.
“This year’s research will build on the results from 2017, when we used drone technology for the first time and identified 17 new whales around Warrnambool, including seven calves.”
DELWP has obtained a research permit for this project, allowing drones to operate within 500 metres of whales.
“The permit comes with strict conditions about the position of research drones and amount of time research drones are allowed to spend near whales,” Ms Watson said.
“Whale behaviour will be constantly monitored during drone flights. If a whale shows behavioural response to a drone, the drone will be withdrawn to at least 500 metres from the whale.
“During the first year of this study, drones spent no more than five minutes over each whale with no behavioural changes detected.
“The drone operators we have sourced for this research are fully qualified and experienced in operating drones in coastal environments.”
The research will be conducted over two to three days between 27 August and 7 September.
The data will be added to DELWP’s South East Australian Southern Right Whale Photo-Identification Catalogue which is used to study the population. The research, funded by the Victorian Government, is a partnership between DELWP regional staff and DELWP’s Arthur Rylah Institute.
