That sick feeling...

[choo choo]

After dealing with Humpback whales for many years, I believe I have the comprehension necessary for my comment. Both dolphins and whales are much much more intelligent than most people can imagine!

They must be intelligent creatures, I mean when was the last time you saw a whale flying a UAV near a human?

 

[HighlandsVideo]

That is in fact a great picture, but it does not appear to be whale pup. That appears to me to be a dolphin hitching a ride. If so, I'd think it twice as spectacular.

Hope you get flying again soon!

 

[The_Achievable_]

I've been whale watching recently, got some lovely footage this morning of a whale playing with her calf. Flew through 2 batteries, went to charge them and back to ocean, flew out to where a whale sort of was... (difficult finding whales precisely, normally involves myself and my wife as spotter, directing me towards the splashes)

My wife was busy talking to an old friend we bumped into on the beach, kids where playing on the rocks, I took off goggles and put down controller to talk to kids, then saw whale a bit off from where I was. Grabbed controller, pulled back on stick without looking at screen, and 4 seconds later when looked down saw the black screen and 'no signal' - pulled left stick instead of right. Drops 4m very quickly.

Insurance only covers theft, no cover when flying...

So here is the last picture from old Droney, hopefully I can one day continue with this great hobby. View attachment 44974

At least it went doing what it loved, and giving you an amazing image.

 

[beach_Dr]

Finally put together a video of the final footage

 

[beach_Dr]

So I’m back in the air again, getting to know my new trusty mavic1, only crashed once in first outing when it threw a prop...
Second time I’m venturing out over water today, spied a southern right whale near the shore (literally only 200m offshore, inside the shark nets.)
Flew out to her from a distant beach, so was about 600m away, looking down, when suddenly screen froze and turned black and white, on cellphone and goggles, and that sick feeling welled up again inside me...
Pushed left stick up, telemetry seemed to still be working and showed drone gaining altitude, so held down Return to Home and waited nervously for the distance to start ticking down.
All well! Took a while for my twisted stomach to return to normal!
Reboot everything and it worked again

PS for those Australians worried about whale laws, I was really really far away. Just a good digital zoom going!!

 

[chazzm]

No probably not your type of human being!

 

[Scotty99]

I've been whale watching recently, got some lovely footage this morning of a whale playing with her calf. Flew through 2 batteries, went to charge them and back to ocean, flew out to where a whale sort of was... (difficult finding whales precisely, normally involves myself and my wife as spotter, directing me towards the splashes)

My wife was busy talking to an old friend we bumped into on the beach, kids where playing on the rocks, I took off goggles and put down controller to talk to kids, then saw whale a bit off from where I was. Grabbed controller, pulled back on stick without looking at screen, and 4 seconds later when looked down saw the black screen and 'no signal' - pulled left stick instead of right. Drops 4m very quickly.

Insurance only covers theft, no cover when flying...

So here is the last picture from old Droney, hopefully I can one day continue with this great hobby. View attachment 44974

Absolutely amazing photograph

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Nice video, in the first part they appear to be just about stationary.
I've rarely seen whales just floating there like that.

If I were you I would delete and reinstall Go4, and maybe reset all your mavic settings to default.
Not sure if you can somehow reflash the mavic totally, repair with controller, get a new cable to viewing device.
You can't have this blackout problem recurring, even if not risky, it will cause concern every flight.

I think my fellow Aussies weren't 'having a go' at you about being close, and they would be aware you are in Sth Africa I'm sure . . . but we do have a Shelley Beach on the NSW coast (with a great Humpback migration every year) and it's a cracker of a beach too.

 

[texasgrape]

And in Australia, prolly $250,000 in fines....

How so?

 

[texasgrape]

I've been whale watching recently, got some lovely footage this morning of a whale playing with her calf. Flew through 2 batteries, went to charge them and back to ocean, flew out to where a whale sort of was... (difficult finding whales precisely, normally involves myself and my wife as spotter, directing me towards the splashes)

My wife was busy talking to an old friend we bumped into on the beach, kids where playing on the rocks, I took off goggles and put down controller to talk to kids, then saw whale a bit off from where I was. Grabbed controller, pulled back on stick without looking at screen, and 4 seconds later when looked down saw the black screen and 'no signal' - pulled left stick instead of right. Drops 4m very quickly.

Insurance only covers theft, no cover when flying...

So here is the last picture from old Droney, hopefully I can one day continue with this great hobby. View attachment 44974

Sorry you lost your drone; but I'll say what most are thinking: You did many things wrong and losing your drone was inevitable! Can't believe you left your drone flying and set your controller down; wife was not spotting (the drone NOT whales) as should be done with goggles; and you didn't look at your screen before pulling a lever (not experienced enough?)--again sorry you lost your drone-that sucks! But when flying over water you do not get second chances and you knew the risks! The good news is that by posting this you may have just saved others from similar errors--thanks for that!

 

[Maviac]

Sorry you lost your drone; but I'll say what most are thinking: You did many things wrong and losing your drone was inevitable! Can't believe you left your drone flying and set your controller down; wife was not spotting (the drone NOT whales) as should be done with goggles; and you didn't look at your screen before pulling a lever (not experienced enough?)--again sorry you lost your drone-that sucks! But when flying over water you do not get second chances and you knew the risks! The good news is that by posting this you may have just saved others from similar errors--thanks for that!

Pretty sure you’re about the only one thinking that. He acknowledged his mistake and I think most of us feel bad for him.

 

[Thomas B]