Grant Awards by Fiscal Year: 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | Previous Years
Advancing satellite-based whale detection for remote population monitoring in the Pacific
Bejder, L.
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
This project aims to use satellite images to estimate cetacean abundance from satellite-derived whale count models informed by environmental and behavioral data.
Novel spatial mark-recapture models for assessing open and moving whale populations
Durban, J.
New England Aquarium
This project will further the development and application of spatial mark-recapture models that are robust to violations of conventional mark-recapture assumptions of spatial homogeneity and population definition. These models can be used to estimate parameters to infer a population’s structure and changes in spatial distribution, as well as abundance.
Testing the utilization of unoccupied aircraft systems to assess serious injury in marine mammals
Durden, W. N.
Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute
The objective of this project is to investigate unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) utility for serious injury assessment and to enhance the understanding of anthropogenic impacts on the Indian River Lagoon estuarine system common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus truncatus) stock.
Can we detect delphinids via satellite images? A proof-of-concept case study with well-studied bottlenose dolphin stocks in the southeastern US
Hines Boor, G.
National Marine Mammal Foundation
The goal of this project is to provide proof-of-concept that dolphins can be identified in the currently best-available very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery, and if successful, to provide training data for AI models that could eventually fulfill the longer-term goals of automating the detection of dolphins, providing another research methodology to understand dolphin distribution and abundance.
Improving US marine mammal stock assessments with close-kin mark-recapture
Jacobson, E. K.
University of St Andrews
Close-kin mark-recapture (CKMR) is an effective approach for estimating abundance, trends, and life-history parameters of wildlife populations; it can also be used to indicate the sustainability of human-caused mortality. This project entails conducting a scoping study to evaluate the feasibility of CKMR for marine mammal populations in the U.S.
Improving gray seal serious injury (SI) qualification and quantification for NOAA stock assessment reports through coordinated entanglement surveys in the northeastern US and development of remote entanglement assessment techniques
Sharp, S.
International Fund for Animal Welfare
This project aims to improve the accuracy of gray seal fisheries serious injury estimates in the northeast, develop an evidence-based entangled seal health scoring system, and analyze survey images to calculate entanglement prevalences.
Computer vision tool for estimation of pinniped abundance, demographics, and body condition using UAV-collected imagery
Trukhanova, I. S.
North Pacific Wildlife Consulting LLC
The aim of this project is to further develop and refine a deep-learning algorithm to identify, count, and measure pinnipeds on terrestrial haulouts using high-resolution drone imagery.