Skip to content

SciTech

The right whale, by satellite

by JW Dowey 16 Feb 2014
The right whale, by satellite

Another population of southern right whales inhabit South African waters. This mother and calf are basking, just as those in the Argentinian Golfo Nuevo are; southern right whale image; Credit: © Shutterstock

The southern right whale, Eubalaena australis, is correct in coming to the surface to be counted. It's always been the, "right whale," of course, but now satellites will help us to ensure this species' survival. Hopefully, all whales that come to the surface at all regularly can soon be included in surveys, so we can compensate for thee unforgiveable use of their blubber for oil lamps!

As the authors of Plos ONE's paper explain their mode of operation, the point is to discover, "how many are there?" To estimate a population manually is more or less impossible for inaccessible marine organisms. Whale impact on food webs and ecosystems is as enormous as their bulk in biomass. Because some species bask in the Sun's warmth, this animal's test was easier than with any other whale species to try out newly-developed satellite techniques for population analysis.

In the Southern Hemisphere winter, shallow coastal lagoons harbour the 7,500 whales in the northern part of their range. July to November is the period of "capture," utilising the calm and optimum visibility. In fact, only one image, on 19th September 2012, was used, showing the giant Golfo Nuevo lagoon. High densities of mothers were basking with their young, who will lose heat more rapidly. There were ancestral populations of 155,000 animals, hunted from the 16th century, bringing the population down to 300, in 3 populations. Mortality now, especially in Argentina has risen to 420, mainly calves in these nursery areas, in recent years.

The remote satellite system uses much higher resolution than previous cameras, and much lower financial resources! Even penguins and seals can we counted. The Worldview2 satellite even uses far blue in the spectrum to see underwater and perform hydrographic mapping (coastal bathymetry for the initiated). The resolution of the image showed about 2m per pixel, which means the whale takes up several. Whale pairs counted as mother and calf and even the typical head calluses can be identified (see our pic above).

Seabird groups were also identified on the coastal picture. Although their size discriminated against their identification as whales, this means automatic population estimate would be more difficult. The only other misidentification could be orcas. Their small size and lack of presence at this time helped in this picture, however. Given the close match of automatic detection with the team's manual whale counting, it seems likely that these possible errors would be negligible.

Behavioural patterns are next on the agenda for Peter T. Fretwell, Iain J. Staniland and Jaume Forcada of the British Antarctic Survey. They also suggest some whale species for other accurate population estimates and recommend forthcoming satellite platforms with even higher resolution of panchromatic images. This ground breaking or rather ocean-breaking paper appears in Whales from Space? under the open access aegis of PloS ONE.

The return of a Magnificent 7 right whales to New Zealand lagoons is recorded here as Right whales return to NZ.


Trending Eco-Friendly Clothing

Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Love My Planet women's eco-friendly relaxed fit hoodieSize Guide Centimeters 8 10 12 14 16 18 Bust 84 88 92 97 103 108 Waist 66 70 75 80 85 91 Hips 91 95 99 104 109 116 Bust: Measure around the fullest part of...
£38.00
£38.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Penguins Hate Push-Ups men's eco-friendly pullover HoodieSize Guide Centimeters XS S M L XL XXL Height 171 175 179 183 189 195 Chest 86 93 99 104 116 129 Waist 71 76 81 89 99 112 Chest: Measure all round your chest just below...
£38.00
£38.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Notify me
Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Lightning Bolt kids eco-friendly long sleeve t-shirtSize Guide Centimeters 3-4yrs 5-6yrs 7-8yrs 9-10yrs 11-12yrs Height 98 112 125 136 147 Chest 60 66 70 75 84 Chest: Measure all around your chest just below your armpits. Height: Your natural height If you fall between...
£18.00
£18.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Notify me
Union Jack Tote Bag
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Union Jack Tote Bag
Union Jack eco-friendly colour tote bagProduct Specification Organic Cotton Tote Bag. Twill Weave (170gsm). 37 x 42 cm (7cm gusset.) Made in India / Designed on the Isle of Wight. Wash Cool, Hang Dry.
£16.00
£16.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Prev Post
Next Post

Eco-Friendly Shop

Women's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Women Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable women’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Men's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Men Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable men’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Kids Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothes for Kids Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable kids clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies and jumpers. Our garments...
Shop Now
Someone recently bought a
[time] ago, from [location]

Thanks for subscribing!

This email has been registered!

Shop the look

Choose Options

Earth Times
Sign up for exclusive updates, new arrivals & insider only discounts

Recently Viewed

Edit Option
Back In Stock Notification
this is just a warning
Login
Shopping Cart
0 items

Before you leave...

Take 20% off your first order

20% off

Enter the code below at checkout to get 20% off your first order

CODESALE20

Continue Shopping