Integrating emerging aviation technology into ghost-net detection, survey, and retrieval operations around the Groote Archipelago

Locating and retrieving marine debris across vast tracts of uninhabited coastline is extremely challenging. Emerging avian technologies (aka drones) have huge potential for providing appropriate knowledge to guide and strategize marine-debris cleanup. However, these technologies are not currently used for this purpose in north Australia due to logistical, regulatory, and analytical constraints. This project will solve these challenges for a coastal indigenous community heavily impacted by ghost-nets and actively involved in marine-debris cleanup.
We will undertake aerial surveys that will regularly inform the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers upon the abundance, distribution, and volume of ghost-nets beached across the 958 km of coastline within the Groote Archipelago. This knowledge will be used to guide cleanup operations, and the comprehensiveness and cost-effectiveness of these operations will be assessed. The project will act as a testbed and showcase for integrating emerging aviation technologies into marine debris management across north Australia.