Drone used to track endangered killer whales by Vancouver Aquarium

The Vancouver Aquarium announced Wednesday it is teaming up with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on the research project. Researchers can readily identify individual killer whales from the distinctive shape of their dorsal fin and saddle patch from the air or water, allowing them to track the condition of individual whales over time.

Researchers from the Vancouver Aquarium and NOAA used a specially designed hexacopter, a small unmanned aerial vehicle, to study the South Resident orcas this summer - with stunning results. "There are only 81 of them left in the wild".

"We have typically counted births and deaths to assess population status, but photogrammetry gives us a new tool to better assess the whales' condition between years and to look for changes over the course of the year", said Lynne Barre, branch chief for protected resources in NOAA Fisheries' Seattle office. Southern residents prefer chinook salmon.

Researchers from the NOAA note that there has been something of a baby boom among the Southern Resident killer whales, with five new calves born this year, increasing the populations size from 76.

The whales are called "resident" because they spend much of the year in the inland waterways north of Seattle, Wash.

New mother L91 eating a salmon as her newborn calf looks on. "They cease to be these great big black and white things that can eat anything in the ocean to being these fragile animals we really do have to care for".

"It's the meaning behind that nursing photo that's so valuable", he said, because it shows the female has enough salmon to not only feed herself but make nutrient-rich milk for the calf. That's the bad news. The hexacopter weighs about 4.5 pounds, with a roughly 30-inch wingspan, and carries a special camera system designed at the SWFSC. It was operated remotely by Durban.

"These photographs are so valuable", said John Durban of NOAA's southwest fisheries science centre. Researchers plan to use photogrammetry to monitor the condition of Southern Resident killer whales again next year and in different seasons to determine whether they face shortages of salmon prey at certain times of the year.

Both populations eat Chinook, and several stocks of these salmon are themselves dwindling.

Durban points to a photo of a calf nursing - something rarely seen from a boat - as a favourite moment in the study. They were operating under research permits from NOAA Fisheries and flight authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration when in United States waters, and from Fisheries and Oceans Canada with flight authorization from Transport Canada when in Canadian waters.

This adult male southern resident killer whale (K21) was photographed from above, so scientists can measure his growth and body condition.

"It's a great example of how society and group living is really important to these whales", Durban said. "We can get very precise measurements", he said.

 

For the 40 years that biologists have been tracking this particular population, the highest number of calves born in any one year was 9 in 1977.