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More than 70 percent of the world is covered in ocean: a vast, deep wilderness of water. But scientists are finding ways to study their secrets-without even getting their wet toes.
Researchers are using extremely high resolution satellite images to track different species of whales as they move around the globe. By sifting through seven pictures stretching the size of Delaware, they were able to map to Hawaii, Mexico, Argentina and Italy. They published their results in the newspaper Marine Mammal Science.
Many whale populations have been devastated by commercial whaling, and it may be hard for scientists to figure out how well they are rebounding. "It's a big problem, trying to count whales," Cambridge University and University of Cambridge author Hannah Cubaynes told the BBC.
Whales live in every ocean Expeditions to visit potential whale rentals can be lengthy, costly and sometimes just too dangerous-making the creatures difficult to follow. "Boats and planes can not go everywhere," Cubaynes said.
But the satellites spinning around the planet are not restricted by windy weather and stormy seas-and their results are at the tips of our fingers. The researchers used images from Maxar Technologies' DigitalGlobe satellite constellation to track down southern right whales off Argentina, end whales in the Pelagos Sanctuary near Italy and France, humpback whales in the waters of Hawaii and gray whales in the sea near Mexico.
The satellite images, Cubaynes said, have a resolution of about 30cm. If you think of a whale being between 15m (50 ft) and 25m (82 ft), you're going to see it, "she added." The whales certainly look grainy, but with a little practice "Flavors and flukes." "For the first time we were able to see things that were really distinctive of whales," Cubaynes said.
But the technique is not without limitations. Some species-like the end whale, for example-were much easier to spot than others because of their body color contrasts with water. Humpback whales, on the other hand are harder to see, partly because they are so much in the water.
The team hopes their research will help conservation efforts for endangered whale species. "This new technology could be a game-changer in helping us to find remotely whales," study author and British Antarctic Survey whale ecologist Jennifer Jackson said in a statement. Her research focuses on the recovery of southern right whales near South Georgia. "In recent years, many deaths have been seen on their nursery grounds at Peninsula Valdes, Satellite-based technology could prove very useful for measuring trends … in future."
This is the first time of the space-age creator. Last year, NASA scientists used star-mapping algorithms to follow distinctively-patterned whale sharks.
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