New England Aquarium Uses Drones to Track Climate Change, Orca Health

Researchers at the New England Aquarium are pioneering the use of drones to monitor endangered whale populations in Cape Cod Bay and Alaska. 

“Now we can understand why a population is going up or down,” said Dr. John Durban, chair of the Spatial Ecology, Mapping, and Assessment program at the Anderson Cabot Center, the aquarium's research arm, in a statement shared with The Boston Globe. “These are reliable, safe, non-invasive, and they're really allowing us to generate huge amounts of data over a long-term time period.”

The drones are launched from boats and hover above whale groups. This drone technology has replaced less effective methods such as helicopter surveys, significantly improving the efficiency and responsiveness of whale monitoring efforts.

“It's a bit of an early warning signal,” Durban stated, enabling scientists to identify whales in poor condition and potentially increase protections for at-risk whale populations.

Following climate-induced marine “heat waves” in 2014 that reduced food sources and calf births, drone surveys have observed some positive signs. These have included the sighting of three new orca calves off Alaska, fueling hope for “renewed population growth,” aquarium officials stated.

In Cape Cod Bay, drone observations of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales — only about 370 remain — have revealed issues such as malnutrition, entanglements in fishing gear, and collisions with boats. 

According to The Globe, by observing right whales with drones, Durban stated that researchers have discovered some “anomalously skinny” whales had recently been entangled in fishing gear or struck by boats. Having access to the drones enables the researchers to identify threats to these creatures.