Deployment of biologging tags on free swimming large whales using uncrewed aerial systems.

• Main Authors: Wiley, David, Zadra, Christopher, Friedlaender, Ari, Parks, Susan, Pensarosa, Alicia, Rogan, Andy, Alex Shorter, K, Urbán, Jorge, Kerr, Iain
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: eScholarship, University of California 2023
• Subjects: biologging; drones; tagging; uncrewed aerial systems; whales; Balaenoptera musculus
• Online Access: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2bc5h4gd

Suction-cup-attached biologging tags have led to major advances in our understanding of large whale behaviour. Getting close enough to a whale at sea to safely attach a tag is a major limiting factor when deploying these systems. Here we present an uncrewed aerial system (UAS)-based tagging technique for free-swimming large whales and provide data on efficacy from field testing on blue (Balaenoptera musculus) and fin (B. physalus) whales. Rapid transit speed and the birds-eye view of the animal during UAS tagging contributed to the techniques success. During 8 days of field testing, we had 29 occasions when a focal animal was identified for attempted tagging and tags were successfully attached 21 times. The technique was efficient, with mean flight time of 2 min 45 s from launch to deployment and a mean distance of 490 m from the launch vessel to tagged animal, reducing potential adverse effects resulting from close approaches for tagging. These data indicate that UAS are capable of attaching biologging tags to free-swimming large whales quickly and from large distances, potentially increasing success rates, decreasing attempt times, and reducing animal disruption during tagging.