Integrating emerging technologies with community-based observations to assess spotted seal ecology at terrestrial haul-outs in Arctic Alaska
Investigators
University of Alaska Fairbanks
North Slope Borough
Student
- Maeghan Connor, program
Overview
The issue
Spotted seals are federally protected as well as important and abundant components of Arctic marine ecosystems. Their extensive and vast seasonal migrations make these species valuable as nutritional, cultural, and spiritual resources for coastal Indigenous People across northern, western, and southwestern Alaska. Nevertheless, many knowledge gaps remain, and we propose a study to improve the understanding of environmental factors affecting distribution and behavior. Our research will significantly contribute to Sea Grant priorities and goals, such as understanding the conservation of healthy coastal ecosystems and managing sustainable subsistence fisheries by improving the basic knowledge of spotted seal ecology as well as impacts of disturbance and a changing Arctic environment. The ability of federal agencies to provide timely assessments of spotted seals is limited by the paucity of information on ecology and demography, due in part to the highly sensitive nature of the species. We will partner with NOAA Fisheries to inform management for one of the least-studied Alaska Arctic marine mammal species, including tests of alternative low-impact and cost-effective methods. Our work will also engage subsistence users through community-based monitoring and local government, supporting resilient communities and economies. Our project squarely aligns with increasing demands for community-engaged research and equitable inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in Arctic research generally and Alaska Sea Grant specifically, by weaving focused scientific research with holistic environmental observations from Iñupiaq community-based observers. This broadens the scope of our work and includes Indigenous Knowledge to understand the environmental conditions affecting spotted seal haulout behavior. We will contribute to environmental literacy and workforce development by hiring local hunters and offering outreach on drones to youth and community members in Utqiagvik.
Objectives
Understanding how environmental conditions affect the abundance, health, and behavior of Alaska Arctic marine mammals is relevant to understanding shifts in regional marine ecosystems, impacts to coastal Alaska Native communities, and to the management of marine and coastal environments potentially affected by human activities in coastal regions. Ice-associated spotted seals are seasonally abundant throughout coastal regions of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas during the open-water period, where they frequently haulout on terrestrial habitat between foraging trips. There have been no systematic surveys at coastal haulouts since the 1990s, particularly since spotted seals are sensitive to disturbance by typical survey methods. We will evaluate the feasibility of emerging ‘low impact,’ less invasive, and cost-effective technologies to assess the ecology of spotted seals at terrestrial haulouts. We will leverage previous work at a network of haulout sites as well as partner with community-based environmental observers, local and federal agencies, and support student research and career development. Our goal is to use small Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (sUAS, or ‘drones’) and time-lapse camera imagery, in combination with observations from a network of Iñupiaq observers, to elucidate aspects of spotted seal ecology in coastal regions of the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea. Specific objectives include: 1) quantify disturbance effects of sUAS; 2) collect some of the first sUAS imagery of free-ranging spotted seals on a variety of substrates for application to body condition and age distribution models currently in development; 3) test and refine machine-learning approaches to process time-lapse camera images to detect and enumerate seals and their haulout substrate availability; 4) quantify the effects of environmental conditions on haulout patterns; and 5) network with community-based Iñupiaq observers to understand broader environmental context and interpretation of results.
How will researchers conduct their study?
We will evaluate the feasibility of sUAS and time-lapse cameras to understand the ecology, demography, and behavior of spotted seals at known terrestrial haulouts in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, accessible from Utqiagvik, AK. We will use small drones to photograph spotted seals at haulout sites to address questions related to the disturbance effects of sUAS as well as applications for estimation of key ecological and demographic parameters (objectives 1-2). During autumn field seasons in 2024 and 2025, we will routinely survey established haulout sites to test behavioral responses and feasibility of three sUAS platforms, at several haulout substrates, and across a range of group sizes. We will directly approach a site at a high altitude (e.g., 120 m), hover and photograph the site, before sequentially descending, hovering, and photographing the site at 15 m increments. Imagery will be processed for numbers, size, body condition, and behavioral reaction of seals. We will also build on a previous study that collected three seasons of time-lapse camera data at four sites by developing machine learning techniques, such as neural networks, to detect and enumerate seals from time-lapse camera images (objective 3), which will be used for quantitative assessment of relative abundance, attendance, and haul-out behavior relative to a suite of environmental factors (e.g., proportion of available substrate, wind conditions, air temperature, time of day; objective 4). We will put our monitoring in the context of holistic environmental observations made by Iñupiaq observers who are part of the Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub (AAOKH; objective 5). We will also leverage existing resources that include an active NOAA research permit and animal care protocol, sUAS platforms, six certified drone pilots (including graduate student and rural community members), and strategic partnerships with the regional government and a community-based observing program.
