Journal article
Reliability of marine faunal detections in drone-based monitoring
Ocean & coastal management, Vol.174, pp.108-115
15/05/2019
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Abstract
An increase in shark bites, declining shark populations, and changing social attitudes, has driven an urgent need for non-destructive shark monitoring. While drones may be a useful tool for marine aerial surveillance, their reliability in detecting fauna along coastal beaches has not been established. We developed a drone-based shark surveillance procedure and tested the reliability of field-based fauna detections and classifications against rigorous post-analysis. Perception error rates were examined across faunal groups and environmental parameters. Over 316 shark surveillance flights were conducted over 12 weeks, out of a possible 360, with adverse weather preventing most flights. There were 386 separate sightings made in post-analysis, including 17 sightings of shark, 125 of dolphin, 192 of ray, 19 of turtle, 15 of baitfish school, and a further 18 sightings of other fauna. When examining error rates of field-based detections, there were large differences found between fauna groups, with sharks, dolphins, and baitfish schools having higher probabilities of detection. Some fauna, such as turtles, were also more difficult to classify following a detection than other groups. The number of individuals in a sighting, was found to have significant but relatively subtle effects, whilst no environmental covariates were found to influence the perception error rate of field-based sightings. We conclude that drones are an effective monitoring tool for large marine fauna off coastal beaches, particularly if the seabed can be distinguished and post-analysis is performed on the drone-collected imagery. Where live field-based detections are relied upon, such as for drone-based shark surveillance, the perception error rate might be reduced by machine-learning software assistance, such as neural network algorithms, or by utilising a dedicated ‘observer’ watching a high-resolution glare-free screen.
•We developed and tested drone-based surveillance procedures for sharks and other fauna.•Drone-based field detections of marine fauna can be prone to significant perception error.•Error rates of field detections depended mostly on the type of fauna.•Perception error of field detections of fauna were not influenced by environmental factors.
Details
- Title
- Reliability of marine faunal detections in drone-based monitoring
- Creators
- Andrew P Colefax - New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (Coffs Harbour)Paul A Butcher - New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (Coffs Harbour)Daniel E Pagendam - CSIROBrendan P Kelaher - Southern Cross University, National Marine Science Centre, Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia
- Publication Details
- Ocean & coastal management, Vol.174, pp.108-115
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Identifiers
- 991012927087202368
- Copyright
- © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
- Academic Unit
- National Marine Science Centre; Faculty of Science and Engineering; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article