0
0
Species monitoring using artificial intelligence Technology solutions are increasingly being considered as an effective means of gathering, analysing, and sharing biodiversity data. In May 2020, SSE Renewables installed four cameras on the Isle of May to pilot the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to accurately monitor local puffin colonies as part of planning conditions for its Beatrice offshore wind farm. The AI technology gathers footage and automatically detects and counts the birds during their breeding season and has learned not to count the same puffin twice in the field of view. Following successful completion of initial trials in 2020/21, a camera will be retained at the Isle of May to maintain a data feed from this location. The AI-based camera technology will also be used to monitor an offshore puffin colony stack at Dunbeath, approximately 20 miles south of Wick in the East Caithness Cliffs Special Area of Conservation. A camera and supporting power supply will continually collect puffin colony attendance data during the 2023 puffin breeding season. This initiative will run for a further four years to enable long-term puffin population trends to be analysed. Combined, the Isle of May and Dunbeath cameras will contribute to valuable scientific data on the status of puffin populations on Scotland’s east coast, providing important information to SSE’s consenting and conservation stakeholders such as NatureScot and Marine Scotland Science. In December 2022, SSE Renewables and its partners won the Scottish Green Energy Award for Innovation for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when monitoring species.
