What a week! SR3’s Dr. Holly Fearnbach and her colleagues from NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center completed two more dolphin surveys in the coastal waters off San Diego County. They were able to collect photo-identification images of and fly a small, unmanned hexacopter over 40 individual dolphins, bringing the count to over 100 individuals this year! Images collected on these surveys will be analyzed to assess the health and monitor the status of this local population of bottlenose dolphins. This study is supported by the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, SR3, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and Pacific Life Foundation.
Aerial images of two groups of coastal bottlenose dolphins off San Diego County. Images were taken with an unmanned hexacopter at >80ft altitude, with authorization under NMFS permit #19091.