31/07/2026
🐬 In dolphin research, what you see depends on your perspective.
Excited to share our latest paper in Scientific Reports, led by Charlie White.
White, C., Colefax, A. P., Christie, A. I., & Parra, G. J. (2026). Estimates of dolphin group structure and behaviour differ between drone and boat observations. Scientific Reports.
For decades, researchers have studied dolphin groups from small boats. But from sea level, we're observing animals that spend much of their lives beneath the surface.
What are we missing?
To find out, we simultaneously observed the same groups of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins from a research boat and a drone during 63 sightings in Coffin Bay, South Australia.
The two perspectives often told different stories.
🔹 Boat-based observations consistently underestimated group size, with discrepancies increasing by almost 8% for every additional adult in the group.
🔹 Boat-based observations became less accurate at estimating age composition as group size increased.
🔹 Boat-based observations classified dolphins as socialising more often, whereas drone-based observations identified more travelling and milling behaviour.
💡 Why does this matter?
The way we observe dolphins influences the data we collect. Those data are used to estimate population size, calf survival, behavioural activity and how dolphins respond to environmental change. If our methods introduce bias, conservation decisions may be affected too.
👀 The takeaway? Drones don't replace boats. Boat-based observations remain essential for photo-identification, acoustic monitoring and long-term studies, while drone-based observations provide a unique aerial perspective on group size, age composition and behaviour. Together, they provide a more complete and accurate understanding of dolphin populations than either method alone.
📄 Read the open-access paper here:
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63500-4
📸 All photographs were taken by trained researchers under scientific research permits and animal ethics approval.
