ALLSOPP HELIKITES LTD

Beluga whale behaviour has successfully been recorded from the air using video cameras lifted on miniature, lighter-than-air, Helikite aerostats.

 

The Helikites were deployed from a small rubber dinghy allowing them to fly directly over the pods of Beluga whales whilst silently filming them.

The research work was done by a team led by Roman Belikov of the Marine Mammal Laboratory at the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Moscow.

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Observing Beluga whale behaviour from the air has previously been difficult for this team. They had tried using drones, but the noise of these machines disturbed the whales and caused them to exhibit unnatural behaviour. The drones had very limited persistence, making understanding of the behaviour difficult and unreliable.

The Helikites were reliable, silent, and very persistent, which allowed long term behavioural studies to be easily conducted with no disturbance to the whales. Helikites are also highly capable of flying in difficult weather conditions that defeat small drones.

Being small allowed the Helikites to be safely deployed form small rubber dinghies that were easy to transport to the whale observation site.

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A video of the project made by the Marine Mammal Laboratory is available to view here: https://cloud.mail.ru/public/K7kq/VJdvBej8E

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This persistent overhead viewing capability is useful for much other marine animal research regarding dolphins, fish, and sea lions. It is also an excellent means for spotting dangerous sharks near recreational bathing areas and monitoring oil-spill incidents.

 
Above-land Skyshot Helikites can be used by researchers to monitor rivers, land use, plant ecology, urban activities, traffic movement, meteorology, etc.

Helikites are the world's only successful lighter-than-air kite capable of flying in almost all weathers up to very high altitudes for days. This is possible because, unlike other aerostats that are pushed down by high winds, Helikites are actually pushed up by wind. This allows them to be far smaller and economical than any other type of persistent tethered aircraft, making them highly favoured by scientists worldwide.