Napier Broome Bay Dugong Survey with Wunambal Gaambera Sea Rangers

In 2022, O2 was engaged to develop a repeatable experimental design for a dugong marine monitoring program to document the relative abundance of dugongs in Napier Broome Bay, far northern Kimberley. The survey was in support of an environmental impact assessment for VBX’s Wuudagu Bauxite Project.

The 10 day-survey successfully employed the novel use of drone technology to capture aerial imagery of dugongs and other marine fauna of interest.

The survey approach was purposefully implemented using methods that promote the inclusion of Indigenous Sea Rangers in remote locations in the field team – in this instance the Wunambal Gaambera Traditional Owners and Sea Rangers.

The long-term intent of the survey design is to enable full field survey implementation and data capture to be carried out via the Wunambal Gaambera Traditional Owners and Sea Rangers, with remote support provided by O2M for project management, data analysis and reporting.