{"id":6177,"date":"2023-02-03T15:53:45","date_gmt":"2023-02-03T15:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/?p=6177"},"modified":"2023-02-03T15:53:45","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T15:53:45","slug":"recreational-drone-flier-captures-special-moments-in-the-life-of-aquatic-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/recreational-drone-flier-captures-special-moments-in-the-life-of-aquatic-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"Recreational Drone Flier Captures Special Moments in the Life of Aquatic Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/E0-MQYz5pTM\" width=\"740\" height=\"415\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><br \/>\nDrone enthusiasts have been filming fish and sea mammals for years. Mostly, it\u2019s been scientists seeking to document aquatic migration, predation and mating patterns.\u00a0 With drones, scientists have learned intimate details about the habitats and life conditions of sharks, seals and sea turtles \u2013 among other species \u2013 that earlier field researchers, using more conventional tracking methods, overlooked or failed to explore.\u00a0 Drones have a unique capacity for continuous aerial and underwater surveillance.\u00a0 With advanced zoom and thermal imaging cameras, they can film their subjects in extreme close-up but still surreptitiously \u2013 and if need be, in dark murky water or at night.\u00a0 To date, drone ocean surveillance has led to important scientific discoveries that can enhance marine conservation.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s not just scientists; private drone hobbyists are doing their part, too. Paul Dabill, a local restaurant owner in south Florida, spends most of his leisure time flying drones, mostly at sea.\u00a0 Over the past decade, his devotion to filming aquatic animals has allowed him to document little-known behaviors practiced by a wide array of fish and sea mammal species.\u00a0 His stunning videos, mostly posted on YouTube, have earned the 48-year old drone enthusiast admiration and praise, and a steady following on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Last October, Dabill filmed a large school of\u00a0 crevalle jack fish off the coast of Juno, FL that had swirled into a large heart shaped formation for about a minute before dispersing into the glistening turquoise water.\u00a0 Dabill had actually gone out with his DJI Mavic Air Pro 2 drone looking for mullet fish to film.\u00a0 He was surprised to discover hundreds of crevalle jack fish swimming together and then marveled at their seemingly spontaneous decision to create a large circle resembling a human love heart.\u00a0 Were the fish trying to send him a signal?\u00a0 Crevalle jack fish in search of prey \u2013 usually minnows \u2013 are known to swim in a pattern known as \u201cdaisy chaining\u201d but the pattern Dabill observed was unique.\u00a0 Stunned, he zoomed in and captured a remarkable phenomenon that even avid fish scientists say they cannot fully explain.<\/p>\n<p>Dabill\u2019s latest fish video is just as dazzling.\u00a0 In this case he stumbled upon a large pod of 50 bottle-nose dolphins off the coast of Jupiter, FL.\u00a0\u00a0 His 90-second video shows s0me of the adult dolphins playfully competing for control over a long strand of sargassum seagrass while their young progeny frolic nearby.\u00a0 Dabill filmed the pod for a full 30 minutes then posted a brief excerpt on YouTube that is beginning to make the rounds of major online news organizations \u2013 and dazzling viewers worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>Is Dabill some kind of fish \u201cwhisperer\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0 He seems to have an unusual knack for capturing sea mammals and fish that for reasons unknown have welcomed him into their inner circle, displaying a previously unseen part of their nature.\u00a0 In recent weeks Dabill has posted stunning aerial views of a manta ray, a tiger shark, a manatee and a tarpon, among other aquatic creatures.\u00a0 His January 12 video of an extremely rare right whale and her calf swimming together near Juno beach has already received nearly 200,000 views on his personal Facebook page.<\/p>\n<p>Dabill attributes his unusual finds to good preparation and dedication to his craft.\u00a0 But others sense he has a special gift.\u00a0 \u201cHow do you attract all these creatures?\u201d one Facebook follower commented after viewing his latest video.\u00a0 \u201cJust amazing!\u201d marveled another.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff Drone enthusiasts have been filming fish and sea mammals for years. Mostly, it\u2019s been scientists seeking to document aquatic migration, predation and mating patterns.\u00a0 With drones, scientists have learned intimate details about the habitats and life conditions of sharks, seals and sea turtles \u2013 among other species \u2013 that earlier field researchers, using more&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/recreational-drone-flier-captures-special-moments-in-the-life-of-aquatic-animals\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,21],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6177"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}