New webinar announced showcasing a new monitoring technique to monitor whales and other wildlife species from space – BioConsult’s new service SPACEWHALE counts whales and other wildlife species from space using satellite imagery. These images are screened and evaluated in a semi-automatic process combining state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and quality assurance by marine mammal experts. SPACEWHALE can answer key questions about how many whales of which species inhabit a sea area of interest and when they occur. This allows study of previously unexplored areas and can help accelerate the designation of Important Marine Mammal Areas and Marine Protected Areas, provide environmental impact assessments for offshore wind farm operators, and offer an efficient tool for mandatory baseline monitoring of whale populations. This webinar will provide an overview of SPACEWHALE as well as discuss past projects – including a study in New Zealand comparing the results of SPACEWHALE with those of a boat-based survey – and current projects – including data collection in the Indian Ocean where SPACEWHALE will provide baseline data for the implementation of Important Marine Mammal Areas and Marine Protected Areas.
The webinar is hosted by OCTO on Wednesday 13th March 2024 at 09:00 US EDT (06:00 US PDT | 09:00 US EDT | 13:00 UTC | 14:00 CET | 20:00 WIB)
