Plastic waste is not the only thing that is threatening marine life all over the world. Other factors like discarded fishing gear and marine debris can be deadly to the marine life as well. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is working to save the entangled whales.
They are using small boats full of specialists to help free entangled whales at a Hawaiian sanctuary. This work is not free from risk and DJI has now entered the scene by committing its Phantom 4 Pro Drones to the efforts in order to make the process safer.
NOAA teams along with local volunteers have been at the job for years and have been working to free the whales from life-threatening situations at the NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. However, this has been anything but safe. “Cutting free a 45-foot, 40-ton free-swimming animal is not an easy task; it can be dangerous,” confirmed NOAA’s Ed Lyman. Last year, one volunteer was even killed after being struck by a whale.
“In the past, we had to get close to the whales at least three times,” said former NOAA sanctuary manager Matt Pickard, founder of non-profit Oceans Unmanned. “Once to figure out where the animal was entangled, once to cut them free, and once to make sure the job was done right and nothing was left behind.”
The recently launched program with Phantom 4 Pro drones from DJI is working to make the process much safer.”It makes the entire process much safer for both the humans and the whales,” said Pickard. You can check it out in the video below:
