Whales from space: Four mysticete species described using new VHR satellite imagery
Large‐bodied animals such as baleen whales can now be detected with very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery, allowing for scientific studies of whales in remote and inaccessible areas where traditional survey methods are limited or impractical. Here we present the first study of baleen whales u...
Published in: | Marine Mammal Science |
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/517783/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/517783/1/10.1111_mms.12544.pdf https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mms.12544 |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:517783 2023-05-15T15:36:38+02:00 Whales from space: Four mysticete species described using new VHR satellite imagery Cubaynes, Hannah Fretwell, Peter Bamford, Connor Gerrish, Laura Jackson, Jennifer 2019-04 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/517783/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/517783/1/10.1111_mms.12544.pdf https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mms.12544 en eng Wiley https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/517783/1/10.1111_mms.12544.pdf Cubaynes, Hannah orcid:0000-0002-9497-154X Fretwell, Peter orcid:0000-0002-1988-5844 Bamford, Connor orcid:0000-0002-5732-7237 Gerrish, Laura orcid:0000-0003-1410-9122 Jackson, Jennifer orcid:0000-0003-4158-1924 . 2019 Whales from space: Four mysticete species described using new VHR satellite imagery. Marine Mammal Science, 35 (2). 466-491. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12544 <https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12544> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2019 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12544 2023-02-04T19:45:20Z Large‐bodied animals such as baleen whales can now be detected with very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery, allowing for scientific studies of whales in remote and inaccessible areas where traditional survey methods are limited or impractical. Here we present the first study of baleen whales using the WorldView‐3 satellite, which has a maximum spatial resolution of 31 cm in the panchromatic band, the highest currently available to nonmilitary professionals. We manually detected, described, and counted four different mysticete species: fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in the Ligurian Sea, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) off Hawaii, southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off Península Valdés, and gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in Laguna San Ignacio. Visual and spectral analyses were conducted for each species, their surrounding waters, and nonwhale objects (e.g., boats). We found that behavioral and morphological differences made some species more distinguishable than others. Fin and gray whales were the easiest to discern due to their contrasting body coloration with surrounding water, and their prone body position, which is proximal to the sea surface (i.e., body parallel to the sea surface). These results demonstrate the feasibility of using VHR satellite technology for monitoring the great whales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera physalus baleen whales Megaptera novaeangliae Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Marine Mammal Science 35 2 466 491 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
Large‐bodied animals such as baleen whales can now be detected with very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery, allowing for scientific studies of whales in remote and inaccessible areas where traditional survey methods are limited or impractical. Here we present the first study of baleen whales using the WorldView‐3 satellite, which has a maximum spatial resolution of 31 cm in the panchromatic band, the highest currently available to nonmilitary professionals. We manually detected, described, and counted four different mysticete species: fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in the Ligurian Sea, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) off Hawaii, southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off Península Valdés, and gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in Laguna San Ignacio. Visual and spectral analyses were conducted for each species, their surrounding waters, and nonwhale objects (e.g., boats). We found that behavioral and morphological differences made some species more distinguishable than others. Fin and gray whales were the easiest to discern due to their contrasting body coloration with surrounding water, and their prone body position, which is proximal to the sea surface (i.e., body parallel to the sea surface). These results demonstrate the feasibility of using VHR satellite technology for monitoring the great whales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cubaynes, Hannah Fretwell, Peter Bamford, Connor Gerrish, Laura Jackson, Jennifer |
spellingShingle |
Cubaynes, Hannah Fretwell, Peter Bamford, Connor Gerrish, Laura Jackson, Jennifer Whales from space: Four mysticete species described using new VHR satellite imagery |
author_facet |
Cubaynes, Hannah Fretwell, Peter Bamford, Connor Gerrish, Laura Jackson, Jennifer |
author_sort |
Cubaynes, Hannah |
title |
Whales from space: Four mysticete species described using new VHR satellite imagery |
title_short |
Whales from space: Four mysticete species described using new VHR satellite imagery |
title_full |
Whales from space: Four mysticete species described using new VHR satellite imagery |
title_fullStr |
Whales from space: Four mysticete species described using new VHR satellite imagery |
title_full_unstemmed |
Whales from space: Four mysticete species described using new VHR satellite imagery |
title_sort |
whales from space: four mysticete species described using new vhr satellite imagery |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/517783/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/517783/1/10.1111_mms.12544.pdf https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mms.12544 |
genre |
Balaenoptera physalus baleen whales Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera physalus baleen whales Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/517783/1/10.1111_mms.12544.pdf Cubaynes, Hannah orcid:0000-0002-9497-154X Fretwell, Peter orcid:0000-0002-1988-5844 Bamford, Connor orcid:0000-0002-5732-7237 Gerrish, Laura orcid:0000-0003-1410-9122 Jackson, Jennifer orcid:0000-0003-4158-1924 . 2019 Whales from space: Four mysticete species described using new VHR satellite imagery. Marine Mammal Science, 35 (2). 466-491. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12544 <https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12544> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12544 |
container_title |
Marine Mammal Science |
container_volume |
35 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
466 |
op_container_end_page |
491 |
_version_ |
1766367000317132800 |