Behavioural impact assessment of unmanned aerial vehicles on Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii)
The rapid increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in wildlife research has raised concerns about its potential negative impact on animals. The paucity of studies and the variability of responses of pinnipeds to UAVs prompts the need for species-specific impact assessments. Here we ass...
Published in: | Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology |
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2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151509 https://researchportal.murdoch.edu.au/esploro/outputs/journalArticle/Behavioural-impact-assessment-of-unmanned-aerial/991005543405407891 |
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ftmurdochunivall:oai:alma.61MUN_INST:11136084260007891 2024-09-15T17:47:43+00:00 Behavioural impact assessment of unmanned aerial vehicles on Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) Laborie, J. Christiansen, F. Beedholm, K. Madsen, P.T. Heerah, K. 2021 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151509 https://researchportal.murdoch.edu.au/esploro/outputs/journalArticle/Behavioural-impact-assessment-of-unmanned-aerial/991005543405407891 eng eng Elsevier BV ispartof: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology vol 536 doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151509 WOS:000614217600004 0022-0981 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151509 991005543405407891 https://researchportal.murdoch.edu.au/esploro/outputs/journalArticle/Behavioural-impact-assessment-of-unmanned-aerial/991005543405407891 alma:61MUN_INST/bibs/991005543405407891 © 2020 Elsevier B.V. text Article 2021 ftmurdochunivall https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151509 2024-08-15T00:52:48Z The rapid increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in wildlife research has raised concerns about its potential negative impact on animals. The paucity of studies and the variability of responses of pinnipeds to UAVs prompts the need for species-specific impact assessments. Here we assessed the potential behavioural impact of low altitude UAVs on Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii). This is a preliminary step to envisage the feasibility of replacing and/or complementing traditional ground-based behavioural and morphometric measurements by potentially less invasive UAV aerial images. We flew a small UAV (DJI Mavic 2 zoom fitted with a phocid seal audiogram weighted source level of 84 dB re 20μPa (rms)) over 37 Weddell seals (3 adult males, 12 adult females and 22 mother-pup pairs) during the breeding season at Dumont D'Urville, East Antarctica. For each individual, we assessed the level of reaction during UAV overflights at three altitudes (25, 20 and 15 m) while factoring in pup presence and wind speed. For all altitudes and observations pooled together, Weddell seals predominantly (88%) showed little (vigilant) or no (resting) reactions towards the UAV. Moreover, only 27% of all individuals changed their initial activity during the sampling periods, and mothers rarely ended their nursing bouts (3%). While reactions were low overall, the probability of a stronger reaction occurring increased at lower altitudes, and varied among individuals. Neither the presence of pups nor a change in wind speed appear to influence individuals' response to the UAV significantly. However, on simpler histogram representations of the dataset, we observed the strongest reactions for females (n = 5) with a pup at wind speeds below 5 m.s−1 when ambient noise levels were lowest. While Weddell seals are likely to hear the UAV at 25 to 15 m altitude in low wind speeds, the low-level responses we observed are unlikely to negatively impact their energetic budget and/or reproductive success. Our results suggest a low ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica Weddell Seals Murdoch University Research Portal Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 536 151509 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Murdoch University Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftmurdochunivall |
language |
English |
description |
The rapid increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in wildlife research has raised concerns about its potential negative impact on animals. The paucity of studies and the variability of responses of pinnipeds to UAVs prompts the need for species-specific impact assessments. Here we assessed the potential behavioural impact of low altitude UAVs on Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii). This is a preliminary step to envisage the feasibility of replacing and/or complementing traditional ground-based behavioural and morphometric measurements by potentially less invasive UAV aerial images. We flew a small UAV (DJI Mavic 2 zoom fitted with a phocid seal audiogram weighted source level of 84 dB re 20μPa (rms)) over 37 Weddell seals (3 adult males, 12 adult females and 22 mother-pup pairs) during the breeding season at Dumont D'Urville, East Antarctica. For each individual, we assessed the level of reaction during UAV overflights at three altitudes (25, 20 and 15 m) while factoring in pup presence and wind speed. For all altitudes and observations pooled together, Weddell seals predominantly (88%) showed little (vigilant) or no (resting) reactions towards the UAV. Moreover, only 27% of all individuals changed their initial activity during the sampling periods, and mothers rarely ended their nursing bouts (3%). While reactions were low overall, the probability of a stronger reaction occurring increased at lower altitudes, and varied among individuals. Neither the presence of pups nor a change in wind speed appear to influence individuals' response to the UAV significantly. However, on simpler histogram representations of the dataset, we observed the strongest reactions for females (n = 5) with a pup at wind speeds below 5 m.s−1 when ambient noise levels were lowest. While Weddell seals are likely to hear the UAV at 25 to 15 m altitude in low wind speeds, the low-level responses we observed are unlikely to negatively impact their energetic budget and/or reproductive success. Our results suggest a low ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Laborie, J. Christiansen, F. Beedholm, K. Madsen, P.T. Heerah, K. |
spellingShingle |
Laborie, J. Christiansen, F. Beedholm, K. Madsen, P.T. Heerah, K. Behavioural impact assessment of unmanned aerial vehicles on Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) |
author_facet |
Laborie, J. Christiansen, F. Beedholm, K. Madsen, P.T. Heerah, K. |
author_sort |
Laborie, J. |
title |
Behavioural impact assessment of unmanned aerial vehicles on Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) |
title_short |
Behavioural impact assessment of unmanned aerial vehicles on Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) |
title_full |
Behavioural impact assessment of unmanned aerial vehicles on Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) |
title_fullStr |
Behavioural impact assessment of unmanned aerial vehicles on Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Behavioural impact assessment of unmanned aerial vehicles on Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) |
title_sort |
behavioural impact assessment of unmanned aerial vehicles on weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii) |
publisher |
Elsevier BV |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151509 https://researchportal.murdoch.edu.au/esploro/outputs/journalArticle/Behavioural-impact-assessment-of-unmanned-aerial/991005543405407891 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica Weddell Seals |
op_relation |
ispartof: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology vol 536 doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151509 WOS:000614217600004 0022-0981 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151509 991005543405407891 https://researchportal.murdoch.edu.au/esploro/outputs/journalArticle/Behavioural-impact-assessment-of-unmanned-aerial/991005543405407891 alma:61MUN_INST/bibs/991005543405407891 |
op_rights |
© 2020 Elsevier B.V. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151509 |
container_title |
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology |
container_volume |
536 |
container_start_page |
151509 |
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1810497210851262464 |