Are Blimps the New Drones? Lessons for Wildlife Conservation Research
scientists have been testing out blimps as a way of studying marine wildlife and preventing dangerous human-wildlife interactions
Kye Adams holding the blimp used for Project AIRSHIP. Image courtesy of Kye Adams/Project AIRSHIP
A recent study published in Australian Zoologist describes what happened when a blimp was rigged to a beach in New South Wales, Australia to study marine wildlife.
Early blimp designs can be traced back to the 1800s, decades before the invention of the aeroplane. If, like me, when you think of blimps you alarmingly think of history lessons at school covering the Hindenburg crash, do not be afraid, the blimps used in this study are filled with helium rather than explosive hydrogen gas.
The team of scientists from Australia and Spain worked together to figure out whether blimps could be a new frontier in conservation technology for monitoring large marine animals like sharks and whales.
I spoke to one of these scientists, Kye Adams, to find out why they decided to use blimps, and whether they could be a game-changer when it comes to ecological research.
The idea to use blimps to study wildlife was borne from Kye’s concern over shark protection, “working as a lifeguard over summer while studying to be a marine biologist I found myself balancing human safety and the survival of sharks.”
“In Australia, and elsewhere, sharks are often killed if they come near swimming beaches. The blimp was born as a way to provide an early warning method for sharks at my local beach without needing to harm them. Naturally, it’s also a way to study animal behaviour in the nearshore environment.”
drones vs. blimps
Drones can be used for wildlife and ecological research
Using aerial machines to collect data on wildlife is not a totally new concept; methods of aerial surveillance can provide better access to remote and difficult-to-access areas as well as increase the field of view compared to land-based techniques. Drones, in particular, are used worldwide to collect data on a variety of animals. Blimps, however, are not yet widely used.
Drones are very mobile and programmable, hence their popularity in science. They are becoming increasingly affordable and are already considerably cheaper to use than other aerial surveillance methods, like helicopters.
Although drones have certainly been a game changer in a variety of different scientific fields, like every bit of new conservation technology, they have their drawbacks. Their use is limited by their length of continuous flight time (often as low as half an hour). Drones can also be complex to operate and require someone with experience to both pilot and continuously monitor.
Drones can disturb the wildlife being investigated, particularly through sound, which can impact their natural behaviour. This can be unethical and particularly unhelpful if you are, in fact, trying to study animal behaviour. Drone interactions with unhappy and confused wildlife (such as these eagles) can result in unsafe conditions for the animals as well as damaged equipment.
As Kye explains, “‘I have used drones recreationally and for research. They are very useful survey equipment particularly in the coastal environment. Two key issues that limit their capacity for beach surveillance are the risks associated with them operating over busy beaches and their short battery life. Using a blimp overcomes these issues.”
“Helicopters and planes are also used; however, their coverage is broad and they only survey a single beach for a few minutes a day whereas a blimp at a location can provide a similar viewpoint to a helicopter, but for a full eight hours”.
The use of blimps in scientific research is a relatively recent occurrence, with scientists like Kye pioneering new applications. These machines are also silent and non-invasive to wildlife and can easily be operated safely with minimal disturbance.
the airship project: using blimps to study marine wildlife
Kye Adams holding the blimp used for Project AIRSHIP. Image courtesy of Kye Adams/Project AIRSHIP.
Unlike drones, the blimp used in Kye’s research, rigged with a camera, was able to provide near-continuous coverage of the research site; Surf Beach in Kiama on the south coast of New South Wales.
To test its effectiveness, the team used the blimp to measure the occurrence of marine animals and record their behaviour. They observed a variety of different marine species, including stingrays, seals, and sharks, and their foraging behaviour.
The blimp enabled the scientists to make several interesting discoveries about the marine wildlife in this area, including that it is very diverse and that seals are more likely to be present if baitfish are present and may use this beach to forage for food. Sharks were rarely recorded.
Having access to this information allows the tracking of ecological activity and can be used to help people understand the importance of an area in terms of wildlife.
View of Surf Beach from the blimp. Image courtesy of Kye Adams/Project AIRSHIP
Marine mammal behaviour was monitored silently and non-invasively by the blimp, preventing any potential changes in behaviour due to disturbance. This allowed the scientists to make a novel observation of an Australian fur seal foraging in this near-shore environment.
However, there are drawbacks to using blimps to monitor marine activity. For instance, only activity taking place in the first four to five metres from the surface can be observed. As Kye says, “using a blimp as a surveillance method for beach safety is not without its challenges.”
“The key challenge we had to overcome is operating in locations exposed to the elements with new and untested equipment. The coastal environment is often windy, wet and harsh on electronic equipment. We have tested and refined our equipment and are confident it is up to handling these challenging conditions. It’s also important to remember that windy, cold and wet days often have low numbers of people at the beach, so continuous surveillance is less critical.’
Using blimps to prevent human-wildlife conflicts
Grey nurse sharks were observed in this study (species: Carcharias taurus). Image: Jeff Kubina from Columbia, Maryland / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
As well as blimps being useful for scientific research, they can also be used to keep people safe at the beach and prevent potentially dangerous interactions with wildlife. As explained in the study, “beaches represent areas of overlap between human usage and potentially dangerous animals, most notably sharks.”
During the study, someone monitoring the blimp camera noticed a bodyboarder unknowingly getting dangerously close to a foraging shark. They notified the lifeguards who then ensured the bodyboarder exited the water to safety.
Using blimps to prevent interactions between humans and sharks could also have greater benefits to the sharks, as Kye explains, “given greater community awareness of the vulnerability of shark populations globally, I think there is increasing support for shark mitigation methods that are non-lethal. Shark nets have high levels of by-catch and it is still unproven whether they are effective in reducing the incidence of shark interactions.”
“Project AIRSHIP and other emerging surveillance methods don’t harm wildlife and can provide a real sense of safety to beachgoers. Aerial surveillance also has the benefit of observing and studying wildlife in a minimally intrusive manner.”
Kye is also working with a group of scientists to further pursue this method of regulating shark activity for human safety. They are developing the Sharkeye platform, which allows beachgoers to be alerted to the presence of potentially dangerous sharks via a smartwatch by collecting data from cameras rigged to blimps on the beach.
The future of blimps for beach safety
Kye and the other scientists involved in this research believe that a network of these blimps could be deployed across beaches in Australia to save lives and monitor ecological behaviour. But these aren’t the only potential applications for these blimps:
“Recently, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Wollongong Global Challenges Program, we have been further developing our shark detection algorithm to be able to detect rip currents,” explains Kye, “rip currents flow seawards and can carry swimmers out to sea. We view automated detection of these currents as a critical step in improving the capacity of surveillance methods to improve swimmer safety. By detecting rips with automated computer vision, and sending an alert to lifeguards if swimmers are detected in a rip, our airship can help save lives.”
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