Pregnancies in bottlenose dolphins can now be determined from images captured by drone, according to new research.
As the Irish Examiner reports, marine scientists from University of Aberdeen and Duke University have flown drones over the Moray Firth Special Area of Conservation in Scotland to collect overhead images of dolphin pods.
From these, the researchers believe that by measuring the body width of this protected marine wildlife species, they can determine which dolphins may be with calf.
“Previously, we only knew if female bottlenose dolphins were pregnant if they were later seen with a calf,” said Dr Barbara Cheney of the University of Aberdeen.
“As a result, we only knew about successful pregnancies, and didn’t know how many pregnancies failed or how many calves died before we saw them.”
The Irish Examiner has much more on the story HERE.
Excited to share our research using aerial photos to measure length and width of known bottlenose dolphins, and determine pregnancy status ➡️ https://t.co/TyifGXCO84@NicolaJQuick @MarineUAS @RSECJournal @UoABioSci @aberdeenuni https://t.co/Q9lN29By0f pic.twitter.com/FRGkFCJrsJ
— Lighthouse Field Stn (@CromartyLH) February 14, 2022