Dolphin Behavioral Responses to Uncrewed Aerial Systems as a Function of Exposure, Height, and Type

<p>Uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) are becoming a standard tool in the study of cetaceans, however, a comparative assessment of animal responses to UAS has not been established to gauge the most effective systems for cetacean study. We utilized Dolphin Quest Bermuda’s eleven bottlenose dolphins as subjects for such an investigation taking place over five weeks in 2022 and five weeks in 2023. The dolphins were evaluated for investigative behavioral responses to six off-the-shelf UAS types and a custom fixed wing system. Each UAS was flown in decreasing height vertically above the main dolphin lagoon to evaluate dolphin behavioral responses in terms of number of looks and duration of submersion. We evaluated dolphin responses to UASs as a function of UAS type, height, and flight number. Results indicated that UASs with a large visual and noise profile generated high behavioral responses from the dolphins. In terms of UAS height, dolphin submersion duration decreases as height decreases, but that individual subject seems to be a strong overall predictor of responses. Also, we found evidence for habituation to the UASs over successive flights. Together these data support the idea that dolphins are best studied with small rotary UAS consistently in a population over time to allow for habituation.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science - Biology

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biology

Year dc:date.available

2023

Author dc:creator

• Damiano, Savannah

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Jason Bruck

• dolphin
• Tursiops truncatus
• UAS
• drone
• marine biology
• conservation
• Behavior and Ethology
• Biology
• Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Environmental Sciences
• Life Sciences
• Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/527

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.sfasu.edu:etds-1556