Talk on Drones and Whales

Gray whale surfacing.\Photo by Era Horton.

The Oregon chapter of the American Cetacean Society hosts a webinar on how drones are being used to study whales on Saturday, March 12, at 10 a.m.  The event is free and open to all.

The presenter is Clara Bird, a Ph.D student at Oregon State University and a 2021 ACS Oregon chapter grant recipient.  She conducted research using drones for Adelie penguin population surveys and to study the body condition of humpback and minke whales in the Antarctic using photogrammetry for her undergraduate degree at Duke University.

Drone-taken footage reveals patterns of gray whale behavior and body condition across space, time and the individual animal. Drone footage provides a new perspective that provides the opportunity to study individualization and how patterns of behavior differ seasonally, across habitat types and between whales of different body condition and sex.

You must register for this free program to receive the Zoom link and password. Note the link and password will be sent the evening of March 11 after registration has closed.

To register, go here.