MĀUI63 Drone Helps to Save Endangered Dolphins from Extinction
On the west coast of New Zealand, you can find exactly 63 Māui dolphins. This is the total number of Māui dolphins left on Earth! A total disaster! Another species is about to dies if we leave the situation. What would happen if a drone could help?
A special drone is being developed to help Māui dolphins survive. This drone will find and track these dolphins, using visual drone data and A.I. technology.
More Information About Māui Dolphins Project
The main purpose of creating a drone, specifically to monitor Māui dolphins, is to gather important data about their habitat, their behavior, and changing size of the population. This is a non-profit project with participants technology experts and scientists, the World Wildlife Fund-New Zealand, the New Zealand Government, and two of the largest fishing companies in the country.
Creators of the project believe that the information they receive will lead to creating a protection policy for Māui dolphins, which will be accepted by New Zealand.
The first tests for this project were done back in 2019. Then it was made an experiment whether the drone will identify correctly Māui dolphins and will distinguish them from other marine creatures. Even at that early stage, the drones gave 90 % successful results.
Māui63 drone can fly for up to 6 hours. It uses a 50x optical zoom camera to identify and monitor Māui dolphins. Usually it is located at about 390 feet in the air.
So, let’s talk about the history of creation Māui63 drone. It all started in 2019, when a prototype of the drone was created. In 2020 a new UAW was bought by the research team to continue working on the project and getting more results. In 2021 the team began collected visual data about Māui dolphins, committing continuous monitoring and data sharing plan.
Airplanes vs. Drones
Probably, you would say that airplanes could be as effective when it comes to Māui dolphins monitoring as drones. This would be partly true, but let us explain further. Airplane missions cost money. Money Māui cannot afford. This means that if there are such missions, they will be made several times a year, but not very often. Explained in other worlds, we would not have a clear view over the Māui dolphins situations all the time.
Drones are much cheaper, being compared to airplanes, and as a result, they can be used more often. Also, drones do not require an expert present to identify Māui dolphins. They do it themselves. Let us also mention that the collected data from a drone would be much more accurate than the data collected with a naked eye. All these advantages make it understandable why the use of drones is so important for preserving the population of Māui dolphins.
In the end of 2021 on the market shall appear some brand new drone – DJI Mavic 3 Pro – which will be more recreational and functional. Drone sector is groin faster and faster and the usage of the drones gets more and more activities.
