Drone-based thermal imaging was used in this study to measure dolphin surface temperature and respiration rates. Photo: Dr Guido J. Parra/CEBEL

Australia’s beloved dolphin populations face growing pressures from environmental changes and human activity, increasing the need for reliable, accessible and non-invasive tools to monitor their health and support conservation and management.

In a new study published in the Journal of Thermal Biology, marine mammal experts from Flinders University analysed more than 40,000 drone-based thermal images to test how accurately drones fitted with thermal cameras can measure dolphin surface temperature and respiration rates without the need for capture or invasive probes.

The research tested whether drones equipped with thermal cameras could reliably measure dolphin surface temperature and breathing rates

“Monitoring the health of dolphins is important for assessing environmental impacts and supporting conservation, but because they spend most of their lives underwater traditional health checks often require capture, restraint or invasive probes, which can be logistically challenging and potentially stressful for the animals,” says PhD candidate Charlie White, from the Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab (CEBEL) at Flinders University.

“At the optimal flight conditions – 10m to 15m directly overhead of a dolphin – we confirmed that the drone measurements were precise enough to detect biologically meaningful changes in surface temperature and respiration rate – two important indicators of physiological state and health.”

Working with 14 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) under human care at Queensland’s Sea World, the researchers flew a drone at different heights and compared the drone’s thermal readings with close-range temperature measurements to validate accuracy.

“We found that the drone could reliably measure the heat coming from the dolphins’ blowholes, body surfaces and dorsal fins, as well as accurately count their respiration rate,” says Ms White, from the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University.

Senior author Associate Professor Guido Parra says the study demonstrates that drone-based infrared thermography is a promising tool for wildlife health assessment, opening the door to safer and less invasive health monitoring of marine mammals in both managed care and wild settings.

“Our findings show that drone-based infrared thermography can accurately and reliably estimate dolphin vital signs under controlled conditions,” says Associate Professor Parra.

“With continued refinement and testing under a wider range of wild conditions, the approach has the potential to support safer and less intrusive health monitoring of marine mammals in both managed care and the wild.”

The article, ‘Using drone-based infrared thermography for monitoring vital signs in dolphins’ (2026), by Charlie White, Andrew P Colefax (Sci-Eye and Queensland Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation) and Guido J Parra has been published in the Journal of Thermal Biology DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2025.104353

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2025.104353

 Acknowledgements:  The project was supported by the CEBEL research group at Flinders University. All research was carried out under an animal ethics permit from Flinders University (BIOL5505), Australia. We thank the Dolphin Beach and Dolphin Bay teams at Sea World, Gold Coast, for their essential support in data collection, and the Sea World Foundation for their in-kind contributions.

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