Mapping Arctic cetaceans from space: A case study for beluga and narwhal
Emergence of new technologies in remote sensing give scientists a new way to detect and monitor wildlife populations. In this study we assess the ability to detect and classify two emblematic Arctic cetaceans, the narwhal ( Monodon monoceros ) and beluga whale ( Delphinapterus leucas ), using very h...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254380 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254380 |
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crplos:10.1371/journal.pone.0254380 2024-06-23T07:49:40+00:00 Mapping Arctic cetaceans from space: A case study for beluga and narwhal Charry, Bertrand Tissier, Emily Iacozza, John Marcoux, Marianne Watt, Cortney A. Halliday, William David Whale Seeker 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254380 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254380 en eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PLOS ONE volume 16, issue 8, page e0254380 ISSN 1932-6203 journal-article 2021 crplos https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254380 2024-06-11T04:24:27Z Emergence of new technologies in remote sensing give scientists a new way to detect and monitor wildlife populations. In this study we assess the ability to detect and classify two emblematic Arctic cetaceans, the narwhal ( Monodon monoceros ) and beluga whale ( Delphinapterus leucas ), using very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery. We analyzed 12 VHR images acquired in August 2017 and 2019, collected by the WorldView-3 satellite, which has a maximum resolution of 0.31 m per pixel. The images covered Clearwater Fiord (138.8 km 2 ), an area on eastern Baffin Island, Canada where belugas spend a large part of the summer, and Tremblay Sound (127.0 km 2 ), a narrow water body located on the north shore of Baffin Island that is used by narwhals during the open water season. A total of 292 beluga whales and 109 narwhals were detected in the images. This study contributes to our understanding of Arctic cetacean distribution and highlights the capabilities of using satellite imagery to detect marine mammals. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Baffin Island Baffin Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas Monodon monoceros narwhal* PLOS Arctic Baffin Island Canada Clearwater Fiord ENVELOPE(-67.447,-67.447,66.567,66.567) Tremblay ENVELOPE(-120.853,-120.853,55.783,55.783) Tremblay Sound ENVELOPE(-80.999,-80.999,72.418,72.418) PLOS ONE 16 8 e0254380 |
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English |
description |
Emergence of new technologies in remote sensing give scientists a new way to detect and monitor wildlife populations. In this study we assess the ability to detect and classify two emblematic Arctic cetaceans, the narwhal ( Monodon monoceros ) and beluga whale ( Delphinapterus leucas ), using very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery. We analyzed 12 VHR images acquired in August 2017 and 2019, collected by the WorldView-3 satellite, which has a maximum resolution of 0.31 m per pixel. The images covered Clearwater Fiord (138.8 km 2 ), an area on eastern Baffin Island, Canada where belugas spend a large part of the summer, and Tremblay Sound (127.0 km 2 ), a narrow water body located on the north shore of Baffin Island that is used by narwhals during the open water season. A total of 292 beluga whales and 109 narwhals were detected in the images. This study contributes to our understanding of Arctic cetacean distribution and highlights the capabilities of using satellite imagery to detect marine mammals. |
author2 |
Halliday, William David Whale Seeker |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Charry, Bertrand Tissier, Emily Iacozza, John Marcoux, Marianne Watt, Cortney A. |
spellingShingle |
Charry, Bertrand Tissier, Emily Iacozza, John Marcoux, Marianne Watt, Cortney A. Mapping Arctic cetaceans from space: A case study for beluga and narwhal |
author_facet |
Charry, Bertrand Tissier, Emily Iacozza, John Marcoux, Marianne Watt, Cortney A. |
author_sort |
Charry, Bertrand |
title |
Mapping Arctic cetaceans from space: A case study for beluga and narwhal |
title_short |
Mapping Arctic cetaceans from space: A case study for beluga and narwhal |
title_full |
Mapping Arctic cetaceans from space: A case study for beluga and narwhal |
title_fullStr |
Mapping Arctic cetaceans from space: A case study for beluga and narwhal |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mapping Arctic cetaceans from space: A case study for beluga and narwhal |
title_sort |
mapping arctic cetaceans from space: a case study for beluga and narwhal |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254380 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254380 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-67.447,-67.447,66.567,66.567) ENVELOPE(-120.853,-120.853,55.783,55.783) ENVELOPE(-80.999,-80.999,72.418,72.418) |
geographic |
Arctic Baffin Island Canada Clearwater Fiord Tremblay Tremblay Sound |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Baffin Island Canada Clearwater Fiord Tremblay Tremblay Sound |
genre |
Arctic Baffin Island Baffin Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas Monodon monoceros narwhal* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Baffin Island Baffin Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas Monodon monoceros narwhal* |
op_source |
PLOS ONE volume 16, issue 8, page e0254380 ISSN 1932-6203 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254380 |
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PLOS ONE |
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16 |
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8 |
container_start_page |
e0254380 |
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