Drones during the past few years have expanded into more serious work. No longer are they only for recreation. Their high definition cameras are no longer for sight-seeing purposes. Recreational drones now help local fire departments locate sources in burning buildings. Police departments use drones to scout an area before moving in. Search and Rescue people use drones to survey an area and eliminate dead ends when looking.
Recreational drones, available for purchase at any hobby shop or tech store, are now helping people. Helping branches of small area authorities with their limited budget.
A new purpose for drones it seems is marine environmental protection.
Whale Rescue Drones:
The recent partnership of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with Oceans Unmanned comes to mind. The partnership aims to use drone technology in helping whales around the Hawaiian Islands. Particularly, those that have been entangled with man-made garbage, debris, as well as fishing equipment.
It is long documented that marine life takes a toll because of man-made debris. We have seen sea turtles caught on plastic containers, sharks tangled by ropes, among many things. Where will drones come to the picture, you ask?
Well, it is quite simple. Drones will fly high into the air to spot the troubled creatures. It may not seem like an active or even direct approach to the problem, but an eye in the sky always helps. The drones, with their high definition cameras, can accurately give locations of the animals. This would in turn lead to a faster response time from animal rescue. Efficiency-wise, a drone along the job cuts down time significantly.
Drones can also contribute during operations involving larger animals, such as whales. Whales as you know have high surface areas, and it may not be easy to look at every angle. A drone hovering around can give a lot of additional footage that may be helpful for the case.
This lastly means that the hands-on phase of these rescue operations would minimize. Dealing with wildlife can prove to be a dangerous environment, especially if the animal is injured. An injured animal may move wildly, and personnel may not get enough visual on the subject. A drone up in the air does not make contact with the animal, and can proceed without stressing the animal even further.
