Abstract
The turbulent waters off ocean beaches provide habitat for large marine fauna, including dolphins, sharks, rays, turtles and game fish. Although, historically, these assemblages have proven difficult to quantify, we used a new drone-based approach to assess spatial and temporal variation in assemblages of large marine fauna off four exposed beaches in New South Wales, Australia. In total, 4388 individual large marine animals were identified from 216 drone flights. The most common taxa, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.) and Australian cownose rays (Rhinoptera neglecta), occurred in 25.5 and 19.9% of flights respectively. White (Carcharodon carcharias), bull (Carcharhinus leucas) and other whaler (Carcharhinus spp.) sharks were observed in <1% of flights. There was significant variation in the structure of assemblages of large fauna among beaches, with those adjacent to riverine estuaries having greater richness and abundance of wildlife. Overall, drone surveys were successful in documenting the spatio-temporal dynamics of an impressive suite of large marine fauna. We contend that emerging drone technology can make a valuable contribution to the ecological information required to ensure the long-term sustainability of sandy-beach ecosystems and associated marine wildlife.
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Marine and Freshwater Research |
| Early online date | 22 Jan 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 22 Jan 2019 |
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Keywords
- Carcharodon
- dolphin
- RPAS
- ray
- sandy-beach
- shark
- Tursiops
- turtle
- UAV
- UAS
Cite this
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Assessing variation in assemblages of large marine fauna off ocean beaches using drones. / Kelaher, Brendan P.; Colefax, Andrew P.; Tagliafico, Alejandro; Bishop, Melanie J.; Giles, Anna; Butcher, Paul A.
In: Marine and Freshwater Research, 22.01.2019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing variation in assemblages of large marine fauna off ocean beaches using drones
AU - Kelaher, Brendan P.
AU - Colefax, Andrew P.
AU - Tagliafico, Alejandro
AU - Bishop, Melanie J.
AU - Giles, Anna
AU - Butcher, Paul A.
PY - 2019/1/22
Y1 - 2019/1/22
N2 - The turbulent waters off ocean beaches provide habitat for large marine fauna, including dolphins, sharks, rays, turtles and game fish. Although, historically, these assemblages have proven difficult to quantify, we used a new drone-based approach to assess spatial and temporal variation in assemblages of large marine fauna off four exposed beaches in New South Wales, Australia. In total, 4388 individual large marine animals were identified from 216 drone flights. The most common taxa, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.) and Australian cownose rays (Rhinoptera neglecta), occurred in 25.5 and 19.9% of flights respectively. White (Carcharodon carcharias), bull (Carcharhinus leucas) and other whaler (Carcharhinus spp.) sharks were observed in <1% of flights. There was significant variation in the structure of assemblages of large fauna among beaches, with those adjacent to riverine estuaries having greater richness and abundance of wildlife. Overall, drone surveys were successful in documenting the spatio-temporal dynamics of an impressive suite of large marine fauna. We contend that emerging drone technology can make a valuable contribution to the ecological information required to ensure the long-term sustainability of sandy-beach ecosystems and associated marine wildlife.
AB - The turbulent waters off ocean beaches provide habitat for large marine fauna, including dolphins, sharks, rays, turtles and game fish. Although, historically, these assemblages have proven difficult to quantify, we used a new drone-based approach to assess spatial and temporal variation in assemblages of large marine fauna off four exposed beaches in New South Wales, Australia. In total, 4388 individual large marine animals were identified from 216 drone flights. The most common taxa, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.) and Australian cownose rays (Rhinoptera neglecta), occurred in 25.5 and 19.9% of flights respectively. White (Carcharodon carcharias), bull (Carcharhinus leucas) and other whaler (Carcharhinus spp.) sharks were observed in <1% of flights. There was significant variation in the structure of assemblages of large fauna among beaches, with those adjacent to riverine estuaries having greater richness and abundance of wildlife. Overall, drone surveys were successful in documenting the spatio-temporal dynamics of an impressive suite of large marine fauna. We contend that emerging drone technology can make a valuable contribution to the ecological information required to ensure the long-term sustainability of sandy-beach ecosystems and associated marine wildlife.
KW - Carcharodon
KW - dolphin
KW - RPAS
KW - ray
KW - sandy-beach
KW - shark
KW - Tursiops
KW - turtle
KW - UAV
KW - UAS
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060390765&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1071/MF18375
DO - 10.1071/MF18375
M3 - Article
JO - Marine and Freshwater Research
T2 - Marine and Freshwater Research
JF - Marine and Freshwater Research
SN - 1323-1650
ER -