Project Will Focus On The Use Of "Hyperblimps" To Silently Study Right Whales

Paul Slusser from the University of Utah, and Daniel Geery, president of Hyperblimp, LLC, both in Salt Lake City, Utah, have been awarded a 2010 Lindbergh Grant in aviation and animal conservation. The Lindbergh Foundation announced Thursday that the grant was made for their project "Silently Recording the Behavior of Endangered Right Whales Using Radio-Controlled Hyperblimp Airships."

Hyperblimp LLC Photo

Since the 1970s, surveys have been made of southern right whales by flying near the shores of Peninsula Valdes, Argentina, in a light airplane, to observe and photo-identify individual whales, record their locations and the presence of calves. As flight costs have increased, aerial surveillance has decreased. Also, planes are noisy and low altitude flying is risky. Although this population has been recovering since the 1970s, more than 300 calves died along Peninsula Valdes since 2005. The need to collect information about this endangered species, and to better understand the causes for the recent deaths, is vital to their long-term survival.

Mr. Slusser, Mr. Geery, and others plan to test a new design of a radio-controlled blimp or airship with remotely operated, gimbaled cameras. This design of airship can silently hover for long periods, to observe, photograph and identify animals, causing little disturbance. 

Paul Slusser

Initial trials will be conducted in Utah, on animals such as buffalo, antelope, and deer. The hyperblimp will then be used to study right whales. Southern right whales are present May through December, when researchers can document them, observe breeding habits, behavior, and demographics. If recording is successful, the next step will be collecting exhalation samples for evidence of disease. Hyperblimps could reduce the cost of aerial surveillance in Argentina by 90% and be of great use in studying other animal species. Hyperblimp LLC intends to use these airships for other environmental and humanitarian applications as well.

Slusser and Geery received one of eight Lindbergh grants awarded so far this year. They were chosen from 166 applicants from around the world. Lindbergh Grants are made in amounts up to $10,580, a symbolic amount representing the cost of building Charles Lindbergh's plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, in 1927. To date, more $3 million has been awarded to 310 researchers.

Daniel Geery

The Lindgergh Foundation says its grants program maintains an excellent reputation among the scientific community and the public sector for supporting exceptional, high-quality projects and dedicated researchers. The foundation says it subjects grant applications to a rigorous five-step review process focused on evaluations by two independent all volunteer review groups, including a 48-member Technical Review Panel. This international panel is comprised of knowledgeable and respected individuals drawn from the various fields in which Lindbergh grants are made.

The annual deadline for all Lindbergh Grant applications is in mid-June for funding the following year.

FMI: www.hyperblimp.com, www.lindberghfoundation.org