A new dataset featuring hundreds of satellite images of whales has been published to support the development of artificial intelligence systems which will aid crucial conservation work.

British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists Hannah Cubaynes and Peter Fretwell have published an expansive and freely available collection of satellite images of whales taken as part of BAS’ Wildlife from Space project. Antarctic wildlife is difficult to study as many species are remote and inaccessible. As a result, satellites that can photograph and track hard to monitor species are a valuable tool in conservation research. [1]

Figure 1. Whale images used for artificial intelligence research

Figure 1 shows satellite imagery can be difficult to interpret with the naked eye though and analyzing satellite images is a laborious and time-consuming task for researchers. Emerging technology which uses artificial intelligence and automated counting techniques addresses this issue but is currently limited as accurate automated systems to detect different species are currently lacking. Such detection systems require access to open-source libraries containing examples of whales annotated in satellite images to train and test automatic detection systems. [2]

Now, for the first time BAS researchers have published exactly such a dataset. A total of 633 annotated whale images have been published, which were created by surveying 6,300 km2 of satellite imagery captured by various very high-resolution satellites in regions across the globe. [1]

Many whale species were brought to the verge of extinction in the age of commercial whaling, but since then some populations have started to recover. Today though, many threats to whales across the world persist and some species are classified as critically endangered. It is hoped that this will support the development of next generation artificial intelligence systems that will aid research and conservation of whale species that are threatened by ship strikes, pollution, entanglement, and disease. [3]

References:

1. https://nomisec.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/whale-images-used-for-artificial-intelligence-research/
2. https://jinicms.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/whale-images-used-for-artificial-intelligence-research/
3. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-whale-images-artificial-intelligence.html

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2022), Whale images used for artificial intelligence research, Anatechmaz, p.p 92