Deep Vision's essay Whale Watching: Automating Aerial and Surface Level Cetacean Monitoring for Improved Population Surveys has been published in The Journal of Ocean Technology, Vol. 16, No. 3 entitled Machine Learning and AI Applications in Ocean Monitoring and Management.
It is a multi-disciplinary problem, and one spanning sub-surface, surface, and aerial spaces. This essay discusses Deep Vision’s contribution to improved population surveys of North Atlantic right whales through the development of artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically detect, track, and geotag this endangered species using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electro-optical sensors. The scalability of the technology, including its resilience under all weather conditions and its application both as a surface level, mast mounted monitoring solution for ships, and as an aerial solution for uninhabited aerial vehicles and crewed surveillance aircraft is outlined.
Conservation of at-risk species is a problem that requires cooperation, collaboration, and innovation. The problem is bigger than one company, bigger than one government agency. As skills and innovations are tested, matured, and proven, the risk to species will continue to be reduced and the activities we depend on for our economic livelihood can co-exist with the many species that share the same waters.