Shark-Spotting Drones Could Protect Both Swimmers and Sharks

While the nightmarish scenarios from Steven Spielberg's hit movie Jaws might be a bit over the top, beachgoers around the world still face the risk of an occasional shark attack. Meanwhile, sharks face their own, larger threats.

Researchers from Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill want to make coastlines safer and more eco-friendly: For the past year, they've been testing shark-spotting drones with the aim of protecting swimmers and to conserving the species.

"We're interested in trying to understand the role that these kind of predators take on in coastal systems. We want to study their habitats and the relations that they have with their ecosystems," Dave Johnston, director of the Unoccupied Systems Facility at Duke's Marine Lab in Beaufort, North Carolina, told me over the phone.

This is the first time that researchers have tested whether drones can be used to detect sharks in the wild. Johnston said that using drones cut costs as they can be flown at any time over specific areas, while ruling out the need to physically ship or fly human crews out to sea.

To test their tech, the researchers put bonnethead shark-lookalikes made out of plywood out in the Rachel Carson National Estuarine Research Reserve in North Carolina to get an idea of the depths that they'd be able to see potential predators at using a drone. The dummy versions, explained Johnston, allowed his team to mimic the sharks as opposed to using the real thing.

The researchers sent out their drones on various search missions over a year, and found that the camera-equipped UAVs could spot their plywood replica sharks in both clear and murky waters of up to one metre in depth.

Next up, the researchers want to extend the uses of the shark-spotting drones to other habitats and species. "Whether it's for ecology or to try and alert people to sharks,our project is focussed on developing the detection probabilities of sharks," added Johnston.

Their ultimate aim is to issue warnings in real-time to help swimmers avoid any sticky situations.

"In five years time, we would like our drones to come with an onboard processor," said Johnston. "Right now, we fly the drone and get the imagery afterwards, but what if the drone could do the processing?"

He foresees a future where his drones take pictures, detect targets of interest, and provide the information wirelessly to lifeguards who can distinguish whether they are looking at a dolphin or a shark.