Nunavut caribou survey saved by cellphones

Harvesters, conservationists and scientists person exertion and duct portion to convey for the occurrence of the latest survey connected the Beverly caribou herd successful Nunavut's Kivalliq region.  

In 2023, biologists with the Government of Nunavut were conducting an aerial survey of the herd erstwhile their photography level suffered mechanical issues. 

"We had 2 choices," said Mitch Campbell, 1 of the biologists. "We could instrumentality the accusation we had and regroup and effort again different twelvemonth — but these surveys are precise costly — oregon we could effort and travel up with an alternate plan." 

The surveyors chose the latter, taping their cellphones wrong the level windows to instrumentality videos.

Aerial surveys are mostly done with photograph planes outfitted with specialized cameras, arsenic good arsenic radical acting arsenic observers successful a abstracted craft to physically number the animals wrong a definite portion of land. The phones were mounted successful specified a mode they could scan a portion successful the aforesaid mode an perceiver would. 

"We didn't cognize that it would work, but we figured we were determination and we would try," said Campbell. "It's singular however bully prime imagery these phones nutrient these days."

The results of that survey, published successful precocious May, showed encouraging signs of a increasing herd. 

Delayed, but successful 

In summation to cost, Campbell said timing was different origin successful jerry-rigging their survey equipment.

"During calving, the model is precise short," helium said. "It tin beryllium 5 to 10 days, and if you don't drawback those animals successful the 5 to 10 days, they commencement to determination retired of their calving ground. Then you've benignant of mislaid your model and the survey volition not beryllium valid."

After a fewer days of flying implicit the herd, the squad returned to analyse the footage. That besides meant processing caller bundle to accurately number the caribou successful the videos. 

"So determination was a 2 signifier thing, which is wherefore this survey study took truthful agelong to get out," said Campbell. "We were processing caller methods to try." 

The bundle superimposed outer imagery and the telephone footage, utilizing lakes arsenic notation points, to accurately geolocate the caribou. 

The results were surprising, added Campbell, due to the fact that modular video cameras hadn't worked successful the past — either there'd be excessively overmuch glare oregon the footage would beryllium retired of focus or conscionable mediocre quality. 

Positive results

The method they developed allowed the scientists to stock the bully quality with the public: the herd present counted astir 152,000 animals, an summation from the 103,400 counted successful 2018.

"It's really rather astonishing to spot a herd travel backmost that quick, successful that abbreviated a play of time," Earl Evans, seat of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board, told CBC erstwhile the results were released. 

According to the board, the herd had been successful diminution since the mid-1990s. While inactive acold from its highest — 274,000 animals — Evans said the latest results were "encouraging" for the herd. 

Despite their success, Campbell said biologists aren't apt to trust connected their cellphones for aboriginal surveys. 

"There are a batch of moving parts successful utilizing the phones and the bundle that connects to it," helium said.

"But the 1 bonus is if the photograph plane, thing happens to it, we inactive person this method to autumn backmost on. So we person a backup plan, which erstwhile you're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars connected a survey, having backup plans is truly good."