Where and how to photograph whales, sharks and dolphins on Long Island?

dronerat · May 23, 2023

I’ve been out flying about 6 times in the past week or so, going out 2.5k+ feet into the ocean on the South Shore, and have seen NOTHING, not even a school of fish.

Is it too early in the season? Am I not looking in the right spots or time of day? Wrong tide?

Those of you who have photographed whales, sharks, dolphins or even just schools of fish, how do you do it??

Any pointers/tips would be appreciated!

Robert Prior · May 23, 2023

In Canada you have to stay half a nautical mile away, unless you're higher than a drone is allowed to fly.

Not certain if this is the right place to start looking for American regulations:

Viewing Marine Life

Watching marine animals in their natural habitat can be a positive way to promote conservation and respect for animals and their environment. But irresponsible human behavior can disturb animals, destroy important habitats, and result in injury to animals

www.fisheries.noaa.gov

Depending on the species, it looks like you have to stay higher than you're allowed to fly a drone. There seems to be some ambiguity about whether a drone is an aircraft for those regulations. There's the whole 'do not disturb' thing which might be situational or might be defined in regulations somewhere. (Not an American so not familiar with your regulations.)

Torque · May 24, 2023

Several Drone pilots here in Washington State have been fined $1025 for coming within 10 yards of Orcas. All vessels, land or air, have to remain 200 yards from whales.

dronerat · May 24, 2023

Ok i get it but there are dolphins and sharks to photograph too. Question is how do you find them??

I read the local beaches around here are actually using drones to patrol sharks

Robert Prior · May 24, 2023

Dolphins are also protected animals up here. Don't know where you live.

Maybe ask at the local beach? They probably have a pretty good handle on shark behaviour.

Meta4 · May 24, 2023

dronerat said:
Question is how do you find them??

Searching with the drone isn't going to give good results.
With the wideangle lens, you can't see whales unless you are quite close.
It's too hard to see through the glare on the water and working at a distance, if you do see whales on the surface, you can't tell whether you need to move the drone further out of closer in.
If you were seriously wanting to photograph them you need to be fairly close and have a good visual of them to start with.

RoarRoar · May 24, 2023

It’s early in the season. You will have better luck mid to late summer.

Go early in the morning.

You need to put the drone up over the beach and look for dark spots in the water. Those are usually bunker schools and are usually accompanied by larger fish, and marine mammals.

dronerat · May 24, 2023

RoarRoar said:
It’s early in the season. You will have better luck mid to late summer.

Go early in the morning.

You need to put the drone up over the beach and look for dark spots in the water. Those are usually bunker schools and are usually accompanied by larger fish, and marine mammals.

How early are we talking? And how high should i fly it when searching for the dark spots?

RoarRoar · May 24, 2023

dronerat said:
How early are we talking? And how high should i fly it when searching for the dark spots?

7-9 or so in the morning, at least about 200 feet.

dronerat · Jul 10, 2023

RoarRoar said:
7-9 or so in the morning, at least about 200 feet.

Hey Roar Roar—I got some! I’m so happy! lol

But…my footage is kinda lousy, looking to improve. Is seems no matter how calm the water is, the details of the sharks or the fish around them are always distorted

I think this is due to the ripples/chop of the water.

Part of me worries that maybe I need to “stop down” the aperture which my air 2s cant do, or that I need a telephoto to be more stealthy. However, they dont really seem to respond to me and I noticed that everything is in focus in a few frames of my video.

Now that I’ve gotten the gist of finding schools of fish and the creatures that prey on them, is there a way to get those details more pronounced?

Some ideas:
-Get a polarizing filter?
-Stack video frames if the shark is fairly still?
-Adjust the sliders in some way in Photos or Lightroom?
-Change shooting format? (I’ve been using the default formats, maybe I should shoot photos in RAW..not sure what the video equivalent is?
-Put in more time, wait for SUPER calm water.

I purchased a 4th battery so I can put in more time LOL…I noticed that every time I do this it is around the middle of my 2nd or 3rd battery that I finally find something. I get a minute of footage..And then I’m out of juice!

PS—it is exactly as you say, 200 feet is the sweet spot for being able to see schools of fish and sharks from above. I notice the pic looks best when the sun is behind the drone regardless of the time of day. I might try using my iPad Pro with the controller, maybe I can fly higher and see stuff, tho I’m not sure if the viewfinder image will be high res enough to show the sharks at 3 or 400 feet..

Robert Prior · Jul 10, 2023

dronerat said:
-Get a polarizing filter?
-Stack video frames if the shark is fairly still?
-Adjust the sliders in some way in Photos or Lightroom?
-Change shooting format? (I’ve been using the default formats, maybe I should shoot photos in RAW..not sure what the video equivalent is?
-Put in more time, wait for SUPER calm water.

Polarizing filter will help if the problem is reflections, not otherwise.

Stacking frames may help. Try it with the footage you have and see. There are specialist apps that stack images to increase resolution. Many have demo versions.

If your eventual goal is a print/photo, then shoot in photo mode not video. I shoot Raw+JPEG which gives me more options when I process (the Raw) but also gives me something straight out of the camera for when i don't have the time/desire to fiddle much.

The video equivalent to Raw is uncompressed DLOG (I think, but am not certain).

More time will help. Especially if you record what you are doing each flight so you have a chance to see what techniques work best.

A fifth battery may also help. More time, after all.

dronerat · Jul 18, 2023

Robert Prior said:
Polarizing filter will help if the problem is reflections, not otherwise.

Stacking frames may help. Try it with the footage you have and see. There are specialist apps that stack images to increase resolution. Many have demo versions.

If your eventual goal is a print/photo, then shoot in photo mode not video. I shoot Raw+JPEG which gives me more options when I process (the Raw) but also gives me something straight out of the camera for when i don't have the time/desire to fiddle much.

The video equivalent to Raw is uncompressed DLOG (I think, but am not certain).

More time will help. Especially if you record what you are doing each flight so you have a chance to see what techniques work best.

A fifth battery may also help. More time, after all.

I still have to implement a lot of this…I have been trying every day! I think I got some big Tunafish off the shore today, am about to look at the footage.

Do you have experience shooting whales?

I saw some whales breach, but by the time I was able to launch and head to the area I saw them they were gone…unless I went to the wrong spot.

Any advice on how to find whales with a drone?

It is so deceptively simple because when you see the huge f***ers from off shore, you’d think you are moments away from a great shot. But by the time you are out there the water looks empty, like they were never there. THey are really elusive animals, VERY frustrating!

Robert Prior · Jul 18, 2023

dronerat said:
Do you have experience shooting whales?

I saw some whales breach, but by the time I was able to launch and head to the area I saw them they were gone…unless I went to the wrong spot.

Any advice on how to find whales with a drone?

From my drone, no. In Canada you have to stay far enough away that the pictures are crap (at least with a consumer drone).

In Greenland I got some OK shots from shore, and Gunberg Lange (a Greenlander) let me wear his DJI goggles while he flew his drone above a pair of whales. He wasn't chasing them — he knew their behaviour and anticipated where they would be. Helped that they were feeding in shallow water and were used to humans.

I think he has more on his Facebook and Instagram accounts, but I don't do social media so can't see those.

Gunberg Lange

Gunberg Lange is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Gunberg Lange and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.

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