Pitcairn drone tests could shape future of marine conservation

Transcript

A new type of surface drone being tested in the Pitcairn Islands could shape the future of patrolling and protecting marine reserves all around the world.  

Deployed in February, the solar and wave powered craft  from US developer Liquid Robotics is a new component of the "Eyes on the Sea" project which provides satellite surveillance of the world's largest marine sanctuary.

The project is jointly funded by the British government, the Swiss Bertarelli Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Director of the Pew Charitable Trust's global ocean legacies Matt Rand spoke with Koroi Hawkins about the initiative.

MATT RAND: Well right now the whole effort is a test to see what is the best way to monitor this huge marine reserve out there in the Pacific ocean and the test is being conducted by Pew and the Bertarelli Foundation in collaboration with the satellite catapult applications out of the UK government. The Wave Glider is actually picking up information and as it is picking up that information it is sending it to satellites which are then incorporating it into this new program project eyes on the sea which is using additional satellite information to monitor vessels out on the ocean to see if there are any problems or any issues with the illegal fishing that may be taking place within this marine reserve.

KOROI HAWKINS: So what kind of information are we talking about from the glider?

MR: The glider as far as I understand is picking up acoustic information it has the ability to pick up all kinds of information including optical images of vessels that are coming into the potential marine reserve area.

KH: Now is this eyes on the sea project operational or is it still are theory or is it still in the prototype sort of phase?

MR: You know like any technology, technology is always evolving so right now project eyes on the sea is you could say it is in its beta version but it is actually very operational at this point. It is being used throughout the Pacific Ocean in a number of different locations Pitcairn being one of them and it seems to be a very successful effort to use satellite information to actually start to monitor what is going on in the ocean and specifically to monitor these marine reserves.