[Work in progress]
Global distribution of cetacean species reported in monitoring studies, showing the spatial coverage and diversity of observed whale and dolphin populations.
Among the reviewed publications, 27 studies employed deep learning approaches, while 10 studies adopted alternative methods. A total of 83 observation sites covering 17 cetacean species have been documented across existing studies.
Sankey diagram illustrating the relationships among species, ground sampling distance (GSD), and methodological approaches employed for cetacean monitoring.
Comparison of the platforms and spectral bands utilized in deep learning–based cetacean monitoring studies.
| Year | Title | Geolocation | Task |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | The possibility of using high resolution satellite images for detection of marine mammals | (72.38, -175.70) - Chukchi Sea, Russia-bowhead whale (71.38, -175.70) - Chukchi Sea, Russia-beluga whale |
point detection |
| 2014 | Whales from space: counting southern right whales by satellite | (-46.82, -74.67) - Gulf of Penas, Chile - sei whale | point detection |
| 2018 | Shark Detection from Aerial Imagery Using Region-Based CNN, a Study | unspecified | bounding box detection |
| 2019 | Applying deep learning to right whale photo identification | unspecified | biometric estimation, individual identification |
| 2019 | Drones and convolutional neural networks facilitate automated and accurate cetacean species identification and photogrammetry | (34.42, -119.70) - Santa Barbara, California, USA-Blue whale (36.60, -121.90) - Monterey, California, USA - Humpback whale (-64.77, -64.05) - Western Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica-Minke whale (-64.77, -64.05) - Western Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica-Humpback whale |
biometric estimation |
| 2019 | Whale counting in satellite and aerial images with deep learning | (20.64, -156.46) - Hawaii - unknown whale (26.77, -113.24) - Mexico - unknown whale (-42.60, -64.81) - Argentina - unknown whale (-34.39, 20.88) - South Africa-unknown (-14.19, 40.69) - Mozambique - unknown whale (-24.62, 153.29) - Australia - unknown whale (-50.50, 166.28) - New Zealand - unknown whale |
bounding box detection, behaviour recognition |
| 2019 | Aerial-trained deep learning networks for surveying cetaceans from satellite imagery | (20.92, -156.69) - Hawaii - Humpback whale (-42.57, -64.27) - Peninsula Valdés, Argentina - Southern right whale (61.50, 1.02) - Northern Europe and UK - Minke whale |
image classification |
| 2019 | Whales from space: four mysticete species described using new vhr satellite imagery | (20.86, -156.68) - Au'au Channel, Hawaii, USA - Humpback whale (26.82, -113.17) - Laguna San Ignacio, Mexico - Gray whale (43.30, 7.50) - Pelagos Sanctuary, Ligurian Sea (France/Monaco/Italy) - Fin whale (-42.50, -64.25) - Golfo Nuevo, Peninsula Valdés, Argentina - Southern right whale |
point detection |
| 2019 | Using remote sensing to detect whale strandings in remote areas: the case of sei whales mass mortality in chilean patagonia | (-46.82, -74.67) - Gulf of Penas, Chile - sei whale | point detection |
| 2020 | A comparison of baleen whale density estimates derived from overlapping satellite imagery and a shipborne survey | (-64.5,-64) - Gerlache Strait - humpback whale (-62,-61) - Gerlache Strait - humpback whale |
point detection |
| 2021 | Beluga whale detection in the Cumberland Sound Bay using convolutional neural networks | (66.15, -65.71) - Clearwater Fiord, Cumberland Sound, Canada - Beluga whale | image classification |
| 2021 | Use of satellite imagery to identify southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) on a southwest atlantic ocean breeding ground | (-28.10, -48.65) - Ribanceira/Ibiraquera Bay, Brazil - Southern right whale | point detection |
| 2021 | Mapping arctic cetaceans from space: a case study for beluga and narwhal | (66.57, -67.44) - Clearwater Fiord, Baffin Island, Canada - Beluga whale (72.42, -80.99) - Tremblay Sound, Baffin Island, Canada - Narwhal |
point detection |
| 2022 | Weakly Supervised Detection of Marine Animals in High Resolution Aerial Images | (45.44, -0.89) - Gironde estuary and Pertuis sea Marine Nature Park - striped dolphin (45.44, -0.89) - Gironde estuary and Pertuis sea Marine Nature Park - common dolphin (45.44, -0.89) - Gironde estuary and Pertuis sea Marine Nature Park - common bottlenose dolphin |
bounding box detection |
| 2022 | Whales from space dataset, an annotated satellite image dataset of whales for training machine learning models | (-42.50, -64.00) - Peninsula Valdés, Argentina - Southern right whale (-34.40, 20.85) - Witsand, South Africa - Southern right whale (-50.50, 166.10) - Auckland Islands, New Zealand - Southern right whale (20.80, -156.33) - Maui Nui, US - Humpback whale (26.80, -113.15) - Laguna San Ignacio, Mexico - Gray whale (43.30, 6.70) - Pelagos Sanctuary, Ligurian Sea - Fin whale |
image classification |
| 2022 | Lords of the rings: mud ring feeding by bottlenose dolphins in a caribbean estuary revealed from sea, air, and space | (18.34, -88.20) - Chetumal Corozal Bay, Mexico/Belize - Common bottlenose dolphin (25.15, -80.47) - Florida Bay, USA - Common bottlenose dolphin |
behaviour recognition |
| 2022 | Satellite surveys prove a reliable monitoring method for high latitude southern right whale habitat | (-50.53, 166.25) - Port Ross, Auckland Islands, New Zealand - Southern right whale (-50.52, 166.28) - Ewing Island, Auckland Islands, New Zealand - Southern right whale |
bounding box detection |
| 2022 | Wildlife and marine mammal spatial observatory: observation and automated detection of southern right whales in multispectral satellite imagery | (-34.45, 20.55) - Agulhas ecoregion - Southern right whale | image classification |
| 2023 | OBJECT COUNTING FROM AERIAL REMOTE SENSING IMAGES: APPLICATION TO WILDLIFE AND MARINE MAMMALS | (45.44, -0.89) - Gironde estuary and Pertuis sea Marine Nature Park - striped dolphin (45.44, -0.89) - Gironde estuary and Pertuis sea Marine Nature Park - common dolphin (45.44, -0.89) - Gironde estuary and Pertuis sea Marine Nature Park - common bottlenose dolphin |
point detection |
| 2023 | Utility of Spectral Filtering to Improve the Reliability of Marine Fauna Detections from Drone-Based Monitoring | (-32.17, 152.52) - Tuncurry - unknown dolphin (-52.01, 153.61) - Ballina - unknown dolphin |
bounding box detection |
| 2023 | The Influence of Input Image Scale on Deep Learning‑Based Beluga Whale Detection from Aerial Remote Sensing Imagery | (66.56, -67.44)-Cumberland Sound Bay, Nunavut, Canada-beluga whale | bounding box detection |
| 2023 | Scaling whale monitoring using deep learning: A human-in-the-loop solution for analyzing aerial datasets | (66.57, -67.43) - Clearwater Fjord, Cumberland Sound, Canada - Beluga whale | semantic segmentation |
| 2023 | Gray whale detection in satellite imagery using deep learning | (27.92, -114.50) - Laguna Ojo de Liebre (West), Baja California, Mexico - Gray whale (27.95, -114.38) - Laguna Ojo de Liebre (East), Baja California, Mexico - Gray whale (26.80, -113.15) - Laguna San Ignacio, Baja California, Mexico - Gray whale (26.77, -113.18) - Mouth of Laguna San Ignacio, Baja California, Mexico - Gray whale |
bounding box detection |
| 2023 | Deep learning based whale detection from satellite imagery | (20.64, -156.46) - Hawaiian Islands, USA - Humpback whale (28.64, 153.61) - Byron Bay, Australia - Humpback whale (26.77, -113.24) - Baja California, Mexico - Humpback whale (23.63, -112.55) - Sea of Cortez, Mexico - Humpback whale (42.60, -64.81) - Valdes Peninsula, Argentina - Southern right whale (5.95, 80.47) - Mirissa Beach, Sri Lanka - Blue whale (34.39, -20.88) - Witsand, South Africa - Southern right whale (-14.19, 40.69) - Memba, Mozambique - Humpback whale (-50.50, 166.28) - Enderby Island, New Zealand - Right whale (-35.68, -71.54) - Chile - Blue whale |
bounding box detection |
| 2024 | Advanced Remote Sensing Techniques for Underwater Fin Whale Detection in the Indian Ocean | (-27.27, 79.60) - Indian Ocean - fin whale | bounding box detection |
| 2024 | Automated Detection and Recognition of Wild Dolphin Behaviors Using Deep Learning | (22.09, 113.43) - Zhuhai, China - Chinese white dolphin | bounding box detection, semantic segmentation, biometric estimation, behaviour recognition |
| 2024 | Relation between beluga whale aggregations and sea temperature on climate change forecasts | (73.55, -90.97) - North Elwin River, Canada - beluga whale (70.43, -68.45) - Cunningham Inlet, Canada - beluga whale (64.50, -165.40) - Norton Sound, USA - beluga whale (59.00, 151.50) - South Okhotsk Sea, Russia - beluga whale (62.00, 149.00) - North Okhotsk Sea, Russia - beluga whale (58.50, -78.00) - Hudson Bay, Canada - beluga whale |
image classification, bounding box detection |
| 2024 | Automated body length and body condition measurements of whales from drone videos for rapid assessment of population health | (44.64, -124.05) - Oregon Coast, USA - Gray whale |
biometric estimation |
| 2024 | Localization and tracking of beluga whales in aerial video using deep learning | (72.70, -94.17) - Creswell Bay, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada - Beluga whale |
bounding box detection, bounding box tracking |
| 2024 | Whale Detection Enhancement Through Synthetic Satellite Images | - | semantic segmentation |
| 2024 | Use of satellite imagery to estimate distribution and abundance of cumberland sound beluga whales reveals frequent use of a glacial river estuary | (66.42, -67.33) - Cumberland Sound, Canada - Beluga whale | point detection |
| 2025 | Deep learning‑based detection and tracking of fin whales using high‑resolution space‑borne remote sensing data | unspecified- Indian Ocean - fin whale | bounding box detection, bounding box tracking |
| 2025 | Semi-Automated Detection of Right Whales (Eubalaena spp.) in Very High-Resolution Satellite Imagery | (27.80, -114.23) - El Vizcaino Reserve, Mexico - Gray whale (-42.50, -64.00) - Peninsula Valdés, Argentina - Southern right whale (-61.58,-63.92) - Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica - unknown (131.211318,-31.64) - Head of Bight, Australia - Southern right whale (43.30, 6.70) - Pelagos Sanctuary, Ligurian Sea - Fin whale (42.04, -70.41) - Cape Cod Bay - North Atlantic right whale (50.02, -64.58) - Gulf of St. Lawrence - North Atlantic right whale (-34.40, 20.85) - Witsand, South Africa - Southern right whale |
image classification, bounding box detection |
| 2025 | Automated extraction of right whale morphometric data from drone aerial photographs | (-31.46, 131.10) - Head of Bight - Southern right whale | biometric estimation |
| 2025 | Beluga Whale Detection from Satellite Imagery with Point Labels | (58.79, -94.22) - Beluga whale (66.56, -67.46) - Beluga whale |
bounding box detection |
| 2025 | Enhancing marine wildlife observations: the application of tethered balloon systems and advanced imaging sensors for sustainable marine energy development | (36.44, 121.92) - Granite Canyon - gray whale | video classification |
Promptable detection and segmentation models:
This project is still work in progress. If you are interested in contributing to this project or collaborating on wildlife detection using remote sensing techniques, please contact zhengyijie23@mails.ucas.ac.cn.
This project is supported by 4th IEEE GRSS Studeng Grand Challenge.