Monitoring albatrosses using very high resolution satellites and citizen science
Key Facts
FUNDING SCHEME Darwin Plus
VALUE £87,246
WHERE St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
Summary
Monitoring the world’s threatened albatross species is challenging because of their remote nesting locations, making ground or aerial surveys expensive, infrequent and often incomplete. In this project, we will launch a citizen science campaign, using 31-cm resolution satellite imagery to count wandering albatrosses on South Georgia and Tristan albatrosses on Gough Island directly from space. Counts will be used to develop an automated, standardised and efficient monitoring protocol for future satellite surveys, greatly improving our understanding of archipelago-wide population dynamics.
