According to the University of Queensland, Australian researchers are investigating whether Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are a better way to count marine mammals than traditional methods such as using boats or manned aircraft.

Migrating humpbacks and dugongs will be captured via a specialised video camera system attached to the three-metre long plane.

The plane costs about $100,000, has a wingspan of five metres, a maximum range of 1500 kilometres and a top speed of 200 kilometres an hour.

Marine mammal survey and tracking experts from UQ, James Cook University (JCU) and The University of Newcastle are working with Jimboomba UAV business, Aerocam Australia on the test flights.

The project's chief investigators are Dr Amanda Hodgson from UQ's Centre for Marine Studies and Dr Mike Noad from UQ's School of Veterinary Science.

They want to find out if the drone can replace manned aircraft to reduce costs, human risk and animal disturbance, and improve animal detection, location and species identification.

Ultimately they hope to improve knowledge of marine mammal abundance and distribution.

Aerocam Australia owner Greg Smith will fly the plane using a combination of automated and manual controls via a laptop computer.

Dr Hodgson said there had been only one documented trial of unmanned aerial counting of various wildlife in the United States including manatees.

Dugongs have been surveyed from the air in Queensland since the 1980s.

There have been no aerial survey deaths in Australia but at least three aircraft crashes, killing eight marine mammal researchers in other parts of the world during aerial surveys of marine mammals.

Dr Hodgson and Dr Noad hope UAVs will reduce costs of aerial surveys and having visual records of sightings increases the accuracy of identification.

Their project proposal says the conservation and management of many marine mammal species depends on monitoring population status by conducting aerial surveys from manned aircraft.

Dr Hodgson said UAV aerial surveys of humpbacks off North Stradbroke Island were due for July this year with dugong surveys in Moreton Bay and Hervey Bay due for October.

The $87,000 project was funded by a Federal Government's Australian Centre for Applied Marine Mammal Science grant and in-kind support from JCU and the University of Newcastle.

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