Meeting Abstract

P1-103  Friday, Jan. 4 15:30 – 17:30  Quantifying Arribada Nesting Behavior Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) BONKA, A*; WIBBELS, T; NAVARRO, E; MONTANO, J; ROSAS, M; MARIN, G; ACOSTA, H; LOPEZ, M; PENA, LJ; BURCHFIELD, P; ILLESCAS, F; Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham; Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham; Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville, TX; Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville, TX; Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville, TX; Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville, TX; CONANP, Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, MX; CONANP, Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, MX; Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville, TX; Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville, TX; CDEN, Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, MX abonka@uab.edu https://www.uab.edu/cas/biology/people/grad-students/amy-n-bonka

The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) neared extinction in the 1980s, however due to intense conservation efforts the population has begun to rebound. This rebound has included increasing size of mass nesting events (i.e. arribadas). As the size of the arribadas grows, it is important to understand the dynamics of these mass nesting events. The dynamics of these mass nesting events have implications for the biology and conservation of this species. In the current study commercially available UAVs were used to document the dynamics of a relatively large-scale arribada during the 2018 nesting season at Rancho Nuevo. Two quadcopter UAVs (DJI Phantom 3 Pro, DJI Phantom 4 Pro) were used to survey an arribada nesting area during May 2018. Both quadcopters had 4k video capabilities that recorded to an SD card. The UAVs were flown using the Litchi flight app on an iPad Mini 4 tablet. Videos was analyzed to quantify nesting dynamics during different time periods of the arribada. The results show the utility of using UAVs for documenting the magnitude and dynamics of relatively large-scale arribadas. This research was conducted as part of the ongoing Kemp’s Ridley Bi-National Conservation Program.