{"id":21826,"date":"2025-11-13T16:06:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T21:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=21826"},"modified":"2025-11-13T16:06:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T21:06:26","slug":"tracking-turtles-with-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/tracking-turtles-with-drones\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracking Turtles\u2014With Drones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Diamond-backed terrapins are declining across much of their range due to poaching, habitat loss, and road mortality. Traditionally, studying these turtles meant catching, handling, and measuring them\u2014work that\u2019s slow, invasive, and adds stress to animals that are already under pressure. Sterrett\u2019s team wondered if there was a better way, and turned their focus skyward: studying terrapins from the air.<\/p>\n\n\n

From Decoys to Data<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

A few years ago, Sterrett\u2019s team proved drones could help spot and count terrapins by running test flights over 3D-printed decoys. This summer, O\u2019Malley advanced the project, asking a critical question: Could aerial photos taken by drones provide enough detail to measure turtles accurately? For her honors thesis, she compared shell lengths estimated from drone imagery with measurements taken by hand, drawing on surveys completed in Barnegat Bay, on lakes near Monmouth\u2019s campus, and with partners in Cape Cod.<\/p>\n\n\n

Measuring Up<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

The results were promising. Drone-based measurements came within one centimeter of traditional methods, showing that researchers can gather size data\u2014and, by extension, insights into population health\u2014without ever having to handle the turtles. The team also tested different flight heights, showing how altitude can affect accuracy. Along the way, one drone image captured nearly 800 terrapins gathered at the water\u2019s surface\u2014likely the largest aggregation ever documented in a single drone shot.<\/p>\n\n\n

Why It Matters<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

Terrapins are the only brackish-water turtle native to North America and play an important role in coastal ecosystems. With populations in decline, this method offers a faster, noninvasive tool that could be scaled up for terrapins and adapted for other vulnerable species.<\/p>\n\n\n

Next Steps<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

The team is preparing a manuscript and refining protocols so other scientists\u2014and potentially citizen scientists\u2014can adopt the method. Future plans include testing thermal imagery to improve detection and using repeated drone surveys to track population trends over time. As Sterrett puts it: \u201cWe have to learn faster. Drones give us a way to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Vicky
Turtle Tech:<\/strong>\u00a0Vicky O\u2019Malley \u201925 and Associate Professor Sean Sterrett use drone imagery to map terrapin habitats from a new perspective.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Student Researcher: Vicky O\u2019Malley \u201925
\nFaculty Mentor: Sean Sterrett, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":21830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"{\"x\":49,\"y\":60}","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"Features","issue":"Fall\/Winter 2025","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21826"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21848,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21826\/revisions\/21848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}