MSU scientist takes dolphin research to new heights with UAS flights

Contact: Meg Henderson

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Seeing a dolphin leap from the ocean’s surface isn’t enough for Mississippi State’s Holley Muraco. Her research demands a closer look.

Muraco, an assistant research professor in animal and dairy sciences and scientist with the university’s Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, or MAFES, started using cutting-edge unmanned aircraft system technology, or drones, equipped with thermal imaging technology to study dolphins in their habitats. The UAS captures critical details that would be difficult, if not impossible, to see from the shore.

A few years ago, Muraco conducted a pilot study flying drones from Cat Island to monitor sea turtles. Amazed at the detailed images of marine life the aircraft’s camera could capture from the Mississippi Sound, she wondered how drones might be used to take a closer look at dolphins’ health through their movements and any observable skin abnormalities.

Through MSU’s Coastal Research and Extension Center, the university partnered with Coral World in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Theater of the Sea in Florida. Using start-up funding from MAFES, Muraco captured and compared video and thermal data from dolphins in two different aquatic environments: the Virgin Islands’ crystal-clear waters and the Florida Keys’ tannic, sediment-rich mangrove lagoons—the latter mimicking the Mississippi Sound’s murky waters. Matthew Virden, an MSU Extension associate, graduate student and drone pilot, assisted.

“Drone piloting skills are becoming increasingly important in marine life research because they can cover larger distances in less time, collect more consistent data and reduce the disturbances and costs associated with traditional surveys,” Virden said. “For me, developing strong piloting skills not only facilitates collaborative studies like this, but it also supports my own long-term research goals in conservation and restoration.”

Muraco said, “Everyone told me that flying a thermal drone over the mangroves was a waste of time because the sensors would just reflect the surface of the water and not pick up the dolphins below. But with Matthew’s expertise in calibrating the sensors, we were able to see the dolphins swimming underwater, as if they were moving on a map.”

Muraco explained that, in addition to irregular movement patterns, dolphin skin diseases are a symptom of poor general health and evidence that the water’s microbiome is imbalanced, containing more “bad” bacteria than “good.” In the Mississippi Sound, this bacterial imbalance occurs when rivers flush excess pollutants into the sound or after major influxes of freshwater, often from extended openings of the Bonnet Carré Spillway.

Muraco hopes to secure additional funding to replicate her current research using thermal drones in the Mississippi Sound.

“The Mississippi Sound is the only home our estuary dolphins know. Studies have shown that the sound is likely made up of numerous smaller home ranges for different dolphin groups, which may not roam farther than their local bay. When their home becomes uninhabitable, they don’t have the option to evacuate to safer waters,” she said.

Muraco said that robust data collection on dolphins’ movements and skin conditions would establish a baseline for monitoring changes in their health and behavior—for instance, in response to a major natural or human-caused disaster. Muraco sees this effort as one piece of the puzzle, illustrating the interconnections between environmental, animal and human health. 

“Dolphins are a ‘canary in the coal mine’ species. They serve as early warning signs of environmental problems and are vulnerable to many of the same illnesses that affect humans. Ultimately, everything is connected, and I look forward to one day having all the data to show that big picture,” she said.

Learn more about MSU’s Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences at www.ads.msstate.edu and the Coastal Research and Extension Center at www.coastal.msstate.edu. Find MAFES at www.mafes.msstate.edu.

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