Drones and artificial intelligence used to protect seals in Norfolk
The tech's being used to monitor seal populations and their pups off the coast of Norfolk
A project in Norfolk is using artificial Intelligence and drone technology to protect seals in the county.
Natural England says, for the last two years, it's been monitoring seal populations and their pups off the Norfolk coast, using drone technology combined with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In December 2024, a team of specialists from Natural England launched a drone over the beach at Winterton-on-Sea in Norfolk.
They then used a type of AI called instance segmentation to automatically detect individual seals from the drone imagery and distinguish between adult seals and whitecoat pups, even when grouped closely together.
The survey identified over 8,500 seals along an 8 kilometre stretch of shoreline, in comparison to a volunteer-led ground count which recorded more than 6,200 seals.
Traditionally, seal population monitoring has relied on manual ground observations and aerial surveys, which posed a challenge in terms of collecting accurate data, particularly in hard-to-reach areas.
Now, Natural England says drones equipped with high-resolution cameras can capture imagery from 110 meters above, minimising disturbance to the seals.
Gabriella Fasoli, Earth Observation Higher Data Scientist at Natural England, said: "The AI model detected over 8,500 seals while the volunteers on the ground counted 6,200.
"This difference is likely due to the drone’s aerial perspective, which provides a unique viewpoint from above, allowing for a more accurate count by detecting seals that may be hidden or less visible from the ground."
Emma Milner, Senior Marine Mammal Specialist at Natural England, said: "This project has shown that drones and the use of AI technology can be a cost and time efficient alternative method of monitoring seal populations.
"This cutting-edge technology will help contribute to a comprehensive national picture of seal populations, allowing us to better understand population changes over time and to assess the impact of human activity on these crucial habitats, enabling better conservation efforts.
"It is our hope that in the future, the methods from this two-year pilot project can be developed to allow drone surveys at other important sites around the country, and for other species as well as grey seals."