Whales from Space: Counting Southern Right Whales by Satellite

Researchers successfully demonstrated the use of very high-resolution satellite imagery to identify and count southern right whales, marking the first such study. Using WorldView2 satellite data with 50 cm resolution and a water-penetrating coastal band, they analyzed an 113 km² area in Golfo Nuevo, Península Valdés, Argentina, identifying 55 probable whales, 23 possible whales, and 13 additional objects detected only by the coastal band. A simple thresholding technique of panchromatic and coastal band data proved most effective for automated detection. This method offers a pragmatic, transferable approach with significant implications for future cetacean population surveys, particularly for species like southern right whales, whose fragmented populations remain vulnerable despite recovery from near extinction due to historical hunting.

Fretwell, P. T., Staniland, I. J., & Forcada, J. (2014). Whales from Space: Counting Southern Right Whales by Satellite. PLoS ONE, 9(2), e88655. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0088655