This season we are using a quadcopter to help us answer
questions about dolphin behavior. The aerial vehicle has a
small video camera
mounted below it. Looking at dolphins from above gives us the ability to see
what they are doing under the surface. We can then answer many more research
questions we could not any other way. And the best part is we do it without
disturbing the animals.
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| Quadcopter with GoPro (Photo: JLewis) |
Many folks ask us if we get into the water with the dolphins
we study. We don’t. And people are always surprised by this answer. The reason
we don’t is 1) getting into the water with them would increase the level of
disturbance to them, 2) the visibility while good, is not good enough to see
much more than 20 feet and 3) dolphins are not usually interested in humans and
do not stay long when they encounter them, so it would hard to collect much
data.
We spent a significant amount of time practicing on land,
and now have begun to use it on the water. See the short video below to get an
idea of what the copter can capture for us!
Great idea!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I was working with film crew last year when they arrived to film the feeding behaviors we see. They had one and I knew immediately it would be something we could use if affordable. And it is very affordable for field research! Not hard to use either. Took some practice, but is working well!
ReplyDelete:)
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