Drones, AI offer new tool to monitor seabirds across Pacific islands

By Ron Rocky Coloma

Drones and artificial intelligence could give Pacific conservation teams a faster way to monitor seabirds and other wildlife across some of the world’s most remote islands, where travel is expensive, staffing is limited and field conditions can change quickly.

The approach is being tested at Kuaihelani, or Midway Atoll, within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a vast protected area that spans hundreds of thousands of square miles of ocean and remote islands. The work is focused on improving how scientists track seabird populations, particularly albatross, while reducing the time and cost of traditional field surveys.

Researchers say the goal is straightforward. “Can drones and AI be used to monitor albatross populations effectively?” said Anna Vallery, a former biological science technician with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s marine national monuments office.

The question has implications beyond Hawai‘i. Across Micronesia, Polynesia and Melanesia, conservation agencies and local partners manage scattered island ecosystems with limited staff and funding. Monitoring seabirds, turtles and other species often requires long travel times and short field windows, especially on islands that can only be reached by ship.

“When you only have a few days and you want to collect as much information as possible, drones are the technology,” Vallery said.

The project uses drones to capture high-resolution images of nesting colonies. Those images are stitched into detailed maps, allowing researchers to count birds and analyze habitat conditions from above. Machine learning tools are then applied to identify individual birds and, potentially, distinguish between breeding birds and nonbreeding “walkers.”

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That distinction is critical for long-term monitoring. Midway Atoll has more than three decades of ground-based albatross census data, and researchers are working to ensure drone-based counts can be compared reliably with those historic records.

The technology could help address one of the biggest challenges in Pacific conservation: scale. Remote islands are spread across vast ocean distances, and many receive only brief visits each year. In places with limited electricity, no resupply options and strict biosecurity measures, collecting consistent data can be difficult.

Drones offer a way to gather more information in less time, but researchers are also studying their potential impacts on wildlife. Early findings suggest albatross are largely undisturbed by drone flights, even during takeoff and landing. Other species, including white terns and some shorebirds, may react to the aircraft.

“We never once saw an albatross move away from a drone,” Vallery said.

The work also points to broader applications. Similar methods could be adapted to monitor turtles, seals and vegetation changes, as well as to detect invasive species or track habitat shifts over time.

Dan Link, another drone operator involved in the project, said refining these methods could benefit conservation efforts across the Pacific.

“Figuring out these methods and working through all these kinks and problems has massive implications for projects across remote islands and bird monitoring,” Link said.

One more year of data collection is planned, along with efforts to train additional personnel in drone operations. Researchers say the long-term aim is to develop practical guidelines that can be used across Pacific island systems, where conservation teams often need faster, more efficient tools to manage fragile ecosystems.

“AI is changing fast,” Vallery said. “It is definitely going to become more efficient and more accessible to use these tools for this kind of monitoring.”