At present, we know far too little about exactly what whales do at night. For a few years now we at
Ocean Alliance have been testing InfraRed technology, in an effort to determine how effective it might be in allowing us to study whales at night.
Below is a video we made in the
Gulf of Mexico during
Operation Toxic Gulf 2014, using a
FLIR InfraRed camera fixed to our
Research Vessel Odyssey.
This is incredibly rare footage and shows great potential as a marine mammal research tool.
The FLIR
Corporation are very kindly loaning us a FLIR Vue camera for our up-and-coming SnotBot expedition to
Baja California. The FLIR Vue is an InfraRed camera which can be mounted to a drone, and we hope to use it to determine how effective these combined technologies will be in studying whales at night.
Produced by Iain
Kerr, the FLIR Corporation &
Andy Rogan
Filmed & Edited by Andy Rogan
Below is a blog we wrote on the subject:
During the summer of 2014, whilst studying the effects of the
Deepwater
Horizon disaster on marine mammals in the Gulf of Mexico, thanks to the
FLIR Corporation we had the opportunity to test a night vision
(Infrared) system aboard our research vessel Odyssey.
How these cameras work is complex, involving the range of light which
they detect. Whilst not technically accurate, they essentially detect
heat. This means that they are commonly used in night vision
applications as they do not require the same visible light which allows
us to see the world around us. Since they display an image based on
temperature differentials they actually have daytime and night-time
uses.
At Ocean Alliance we are always looking for new tools and technologies
which might help us better understand whales. One problem with studying
whales (and indeed many animals) is that we do not have a good
understanding of what they do at night, simply because we cannot see
them. Are they searching for and eating food? Are they mating?
Socialising? Resting?
Does their behaviour even change much during a
day/night cycle? Whales are acoustic animals, which means sound is very
important in their everyday lives. By listening to them (via an
underwater microphone or hydrophone) we can gain a better understanding
of where they are and what they might be doing at night and during the
day. But it often leaves us with a very incomplete picture.
This is where infrared cameras & the FLIR Corporation come in. FLIR is
the world leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of thermal
imaging infrared cameras. FLIR cameras are used for many military,
commercial and recreational activities. The value of FLIR systems in
search & rescue and disaster situations is incalculable. New products
to the market include the FLIR One that fits on the back of an iPhone
and the FLIR Vue which fits on a drone.
As you can see from the attached video, this technology is a game
changer enabling us to study whales at night. Indeed you can often see
where the whales have been simply by the wake and the footprint which
they leave. When we did test studies on our vessel, the camera was so
powerful that it could see where we had been standing because our feet
had left residual heat on the deck! We even observed
Sperm whales
breaching at night, something which likely has never been seen before
(sadly the only footage we have of this event was taken on a smart
phone looking at the video display).
For us this is all very exciting, and leads to many possibilities.
Along with our interest in new technologies we are very excited about
our ‘SnotBot’ program, which is all about developing drones for whale
research (you can read more about it here)
. In the future we will be
merging these two technologies, mounting a FLIR Vue camera on SnotBot!
We also think that this tool has enormous potential for other
industries which might come in to contact with whales.
Ship strikes are
a major threat to whales all around the world. If we could fit vessels
with FLIR cameras which could detect whales at night, we could
potentially stop many needless whale deaths.
Oil and gas companies use
seismic airguns when searching for hydrocarbon deposits beneath the
seabed. These airguns are incredibly loud and potential harmful to
whales. If they had FLIR camera they would have a better idea of
whether there were any whales in the vicinity at night. These are just
two examples of how FLIR cameras could help protect whales.
Many, many thanks must go to the FLIR Corporation for being an
innovator in this field and for lending us this remarkable piece of
equipment.
- published: 23 Mar 2016
- views: 27