Satellites Images Helpful to Detect Stranded Whales from Space

London: Analysing satellite images may help scientists detect and count stranded whales from space, new research has found. In a study, researchers tested a new detection method using Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite images from space tech company Maxar Technologies. “This is an exciting development in monitoring whales from space,” said lead author Peter Fretwell at British Antarctic Survey. “Now we have a higher resolution ‘window’ on our planet, satellite imagery may be a fast and cost-effective alternative to aerial surveys allowing us to assess the extent of mass whale stranding events, especially in remote and inaccessible areas.” It is hoped that in the future the technique will lead to real-time information as stranding events happen.

The study by scientists from British Antarctic Survey and four Chilean research institutes, could revolutionise how stranded whales, that are dead in the water or beached, are detected in remote places. In 2015, over 340 whales, most of them sea whales, were involved in a mass-stranding in a remote region of Chilean Patagonia. (IANS)

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