Counting whales from space

UK scientists have demonstrated the practicality of counting whales from space. The researchers, from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), have been using the highest resolution satellite pictures available. Even when taken from 620km up, this imagery is sharp enough to capture the distinctive shapes of different species.

Previous studies have played with the idea of spotting whales from orbit, but with limited success. This new approach from BAS has drawn on imagery from the WorldView-3 spacecraft operated by the American company DigitalGlobe. WorldView-3 is able to discern things at the Earth's surface as small as 31cm across. Only restricted military systems see finer detail.

Currently, most surveys are conducted from the air, from boats and sometimes from a promontory, such as a high sea-cliff. But these are very localised searches, and whales are known to range across hundreds of thousands of square km.

"This is a potential game-changer - to be able to survey whales unhindered by the cost and difficulty of deploying planes and boats," said Dr Jennifer Jackson, BAS's top whale expert. "Whales are a really important indicator of ecosystem health. By being able to gather information on the grandest scales afforded by satellite imagery, we can understand something more generally about the oceans' health and that's really important for marine conservation."
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46046264