Destination Belugas with CacounAir

Once we arrive at the foot of Gros-Cacouna, we take our bags out of the trunk of the car to begin the climb to Putep ’ t-awt beluga observatory. Managed by the Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk First Nation, this new observatory allows tourists and scientists alike to observe belugas from the mountainside. Once we arrive and get settled into the building’s research section, we take a close look at the site’s “beluga conditions.” The latter refers to the presence of belugas in the study area and the weather conditions, namely wind, rain and fog, all of which have an impact on our ability to fly drones. Finally, when these beluga conditions are good, it’s time to prepare the flight!

CacounAir on the runway

So, while the pilot is busy positioning the drone for takeoff, the co-pilot begins attentively observing the animals before filling out field sheets and flight maps. These initial data are used by the co-pilot to describe the herd, its position, its behaviour, and to propose a flight plan to the pilot. Once this is accepted, the final checks are made before launch:

• Batteries charged? Check!
• Remote control connected? Check!
• Satellite connection? Check!
• LiveU Solo turned on? Check!
• Takeoff warning sent to the naturalists of Putep ’t-awt and CIMM? Check!
• Flight recording? Check!
• Skies clear of birds of prey? Check!

After 25 minutes, it is already time to land and change the batteries. The co-pilot maintains contact with the herd while the pilot operates and then lands his small remote-controlled device to the cheers of onlookers. And off we go for another flight! The morning is very conducive to flying drones, and as long as there are belugas in the area and we have not exceeded the limit of flights authorized by our Fisheries and Oceans Canada research permit, we continue. Our limit is 3 flights per group of belugas at an altitude of 25 metres, which leaves us a little leeway for data collection.

End-of-flight paperwork

Once the belugas have left the study area and flights are finished for the day, it’s time to return to the office and enter our data. This means taking the day’s observations and transferring them to the database: number of individuals, their distribution in the study area, their behaviour, etc. These data provide good insight into how these animals use the territory around the Cacouna observatory. Also, the photos and videos taken during the flight are recovered and archived on our SupraDrive hard disk . The videos are then reviewed and annotated. We take advantage of the absence of the belugas for all our office activities.

However, a beluga can appear at any moment and have us running out the door in a heartbeat! Constant monitoring is therefore essential.

Departure of the brigade

As the sun slowly dips behind the Charlevoix Massif, we are reminded that our workday on Gros-Cacouna Mountain is winding down. After several hours of piloting and collecting data, we clean up the site and put our equipment away in preparation for the following days. Then we lock up the office and head down the mountain, taking stock of another great day of work that is coming to a close.

Hugo Catineau and Sami Jai Wagner-Beaulieu  

Hugo and Sami  form the South Shore Beluga Brigade, which was hired by MMON and holds an advanced drone permit from Transport  Canada.      
Together, with two other brigades deployed in Baie  Sainte-Marguerite in the Saguenay and on GREMM’s research vessel Antarès, they are participating in the Window on Belugas research project.