Researchers in Australia have turned to an innovative method to better understand the underwater habitats of endangered Australian sea lions.
By equipping eight adult female sea lions with small, lightweight cameras, scientists mapped 5,000 square kilometers of sea in southern Australia.
Scientists Later Used AI
The research, published in Frontiers science journal, involved attaching cameras to the sea lions’ fur in order to deeply analyze the seabed.
The cameras, designed to be lightweight, accounted for less than 1% of the animals’ body weight which ensured that the sea lions could move freely without any difficulty.
Over the course of two to three days, the cameras recorded 89 hours of footage, revealing six distinct seabed habitats across a 5,000 square kilometer area in southern Australia.
This data was later combined with 21 years of previous studies and analyzed using AI to spot high habitat regions deep inside the sea.
Scientists said this unique way of data collection will prove to be extremely helpful in identifying the dangers endangered sea lions are facing.
