NOAA Fisheries uses a range of advanced technologies to study protected marine species and their ecosystems. These new technologies allow scientists to efficiently conduct long-term research in isolated habitats that can be difficult and dangerous to access. Real-time monitoring tools make it possible to remotely track species’ distributions and habitat use. The insights gained from these technologies help us understand how populations respond to environmental and human-caused threats and improve our conservation and recovery strategies.
Here are a few examples of the technologies we are using to study protected species across the nation.
Uncrewed Vehicles
Uncrewed vehicles help scientists efficiently collect critical data about marine species, including population status, movement, health, habitat, and behavior. These data show how animals are using and moving through the marine ecosystem, including interactions with vessels and fishing gear. Uncrewed vehicles enable data collection in conditions and environments that would be inaccessible to traditional aerial and vessel surveys. NOAA scientists are testing uncrewed surface vehicles, such as the DriX. These platforms can be used to understand plankton abundance and distribution, which influences where marine mammals go to forage.
NOAA scientists also use uncrewed aerial systems—known as drones—to monitor animals without direct contact. We use them to:
- Count and measure individual animals
- Estimate group size
- Monitor calving or pupping rates
- Observe body condition
Drones can even be used to drop suction cup tags onto cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) like endangered North Atlantic right whales and Rice’s whales. These tags can collect data on an individual’s dive patterns, vocalization rates, habitat use, and other behaviors. This helps researchers piece together a fuller picture of biological and ecological factors contributing to a population’s status. Drones can also help emergency responders assess entangled or injured whales, minimizing stress to the animal by reducing the number of close approaches by boats.
In the Arctic, researchers use drones equipped with thermal imaging systems to assist with monitoring ice seal populations. The warm seal bodies resting on the large ice sheets glow brightly, making them stand out from the ice. Ice floes can be difficult to access on the small, inflatable boats researchers use to approach seals. As conditions continue to change in the Arctic, using drones to monitor the abundance, health, and behaviors of ice seals will be essential for conservation and recovery efforts.
Acoustic Recordings
Sound is the primary way many marine animals communicate, find food or a mate, and avoid predators. Scientists can use acoustic recording technology to “listen in” on marine species. Each of the NOAA Fisheries science centers use a mix of passive acoustic monitoring tools, including:
- Archival bottom-mounted recorders
- Ship-based towed hydrophone arrays
- Drifting recorders
- Acoustic recording tags
- Near-real time monitoring from acoustic gliders and buoys
We use these tools to study the behavior, movements, and distribution of marine animals using the unique frequencies and sound patterns made by different species underwater.
Acoustic recordings can be collected over long periods of time in set areas using fixed platforms, or over long distances using mobile platforms. Recording devices can target a single species or many species at once. Acoustic monitoring can provide important information on species that can be difficult to study. This includes deep-diving species like beaked whales that can be hard to study, or small but wide-ranging populations like the North Atlantic right whale. Passive acoustic monitoring can provide year-round monitoring and fill in critical gaps in data collected from seasonal aerial or vessel surveys. These traditional survey methods may miss animal sightings in poor conditions or while they are diving.
Acoustic data can help inform protective measures for marine species. When North Atlantic right whale calls are detected in real time, we activate a Right Whale Slow Zone, encouraging mariners to reduce vessel speeds in the area. Researchers also upload detections of whale and dolphin calls in the North Atlantic Ocean to the Passive Acoustic Cetacean Map. This interactive, public data mapping tool helps people understand when and where large whales occur off the East Coast.
Animal Telemetry
Animal telemetry uses tags attached to animals to track their movements and gather data about their location, physiology, behavior, and environment. These tags use a range of technologies like GPS, acoustic recorders, and video. Data are stored in the tags and transmitted to researchers via radio, satellite, or acoustic signal. As technologies have progressed, longer lasting tags can now store multi-year data for longer lived species. We can also use miniature tags on smaller animals like juvenile sea turtles and seabirds. Tag developers are currently working to enhance satellite tag sensors to measure more detailed physiological data, such as stomach temperatures to monitor prey ingestion, and environmental data, such as water temperature and salinity.
Satellite tags are especially useful for monitoring highly migratory species, which can be difficult to track by ship or plane. NOAA scientists use tags to gather location, temperature, and dive depth data for endangered Pacific leatherback sea turtles as they migrate. These data help us understand their seasonal distribution and how much time they spend at the surface or deeper in the water column. This knowledge allows scientists to reduce the risk of harmful interactions such as accidental bycatch in commercial fisheries.
Another type of tag—acoustic transmitter tags—sends out unique acoustic signals every few seconds that are detected by nearby receivers as the tagged animal swims by and records its location. These tags can either be implanted or attached to the animal. Tracking movements of long-lived species using acoustic tags helps researchers determine whether a species range is shifting due to environmental conditions, species recovery, or habitat loss. For example, results from acoustic tags used to track the smalltooth sawfish show they once ranged from Texas to North Carolina but are now found almost solely in Florida waters.
Reducing Extinction Risk Through Advanced Technologies
In 2023, NOAA Fisheries launched the Advanced Sampling and Technology for Extinction Risk Reduction and Recovery program. Through collaborations and strategic planning, this program aims to speed up major technological advancements that help conserve the nation’s at-risk species and their habitats. The program applies artificial intelligence and machine learning, advanced statistical methods, advanced sampling and ‘omics, uncrewed systems, acoustics, imagery, and additional technologies to improve conservation management and reduce regulatory burdens.
Advanced sampling and technologies help us better understand protected species and their habitats and take measures to protect them. Supporting sustainable marine ecosystems boosts U.S. competitiveness and the economy.
