Insights into site fidelity of a low-density dugong population using small-drone imagery and photo-identification

Roxana Newman; Ashwag Asseri; William David Paterson; Deni Porej; Harry Clark; Mishari Alghrair; Winston Cowie; David Charles Wells; Amanda Jane Hodgson

doi:10.3389/fmars.2025.1721628

Back

Insights into site fidelity of a low-density dugong population using small-drone imagery and photo-identification

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Insights into site fidelity of a low-density dugong population using small-drone imagery and photo-identification

Roxana Newman, Ashwag Asseri, William David Paterson, Deni Porej, Harry Clark, Mishari Alghrair, Winston Cowie, David Charles Wells and Amanda Jane Hodgson

Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol.12, 1721628

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1721628

Files and links (1)

pdf

Published3.16 MBDownload View

Published (Version of Record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access

Abstract

drone

dugong

mark-recapture

photo-identification

Red Sea

site fidelity

The feasibility of using unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs, ‘drones’) to collect high-resolution still and video imagery of dugongs ( Dugong dugon ) for photo-identification (photo-ID) in the Sindalah Archipelago, NEOM (area ~ 84 km 2 ), within the northeast Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, was evaluated during opportunistic marine megafauna searches. Drone searches were conducted whenever possible over one year (January 2024 to January 2025). A total of 48 dugong observations were made during 91 days of drone flights, covering a cumulative distance of 5,962 km of flying. Of these, 35 (72.9%) were repeat sightings (range = 2 to 8 resights) of nine individuals, identified using tail-fluke notches, scars on the dorsum, or both. The time between first and last sightings ranged from 12 days to 10.5 months, with maximum linear distances between all sightings of individuals ranging 0.71 to 5.12 km (mean = 2.4 km; SD = 1.8 km). The ranges of individuals appeared relatively small, suggesting potential site fidelity. To our knowledge, this represents the first drone-based photo-ID study for dugongs using a combination of fluke markings and scarring, and suggests this technique can yield important data for dugong populations, at least over small spatial and temporal scales. Given the relatively small, low-density population of dugongs in the northeast Red Sea, and threats posed by coastal development in the region, a better understanding of spatial and temporal habitat use of individuals is required. This study will support species management decisions, contributing to conservation of dugongs in the region.

Details

Title: Insights into site fidelity of a low-density dugong population using small-drone imagery and photo-identification
Authors/Creators: Roxana Newman - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Ashwag Asseri - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
William David Paterson - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Deni Porej - Baikal Nature Reserve
Harry Clark - Baikal Nature Reserve
Mishari Alghrair - Baikal Nature Reserve
Winston Cowie - Baikal Nature Reserve
David Charles Wells - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Amanda Jane Hodgson - Edith Cowan University
Publication Details: Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol.12, 1721628
Publisher: FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
Number of pages: 10
Identifiers: 991005852348307891
Murdoch Affiliation: Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Metrics

1 Record Views

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types: International collaboration
Citation topics: No Topic Assigned; No Topic Assigned; No Topic Assigned
Web Of Science research areas: Environmental Sciences; Marine & Freshwater Biology
ESI research areas: Plant & Animal Science