The Endangered Beluga and How IoT Can Save It and Other Species

Zaragoza, Spain-based company Libelium is set to demonstrate how its technology is able to save the Beluga whales in Alaska. Libelium plans to work alongside the state’s government to monitor both air and water quality due to a gas leak that took place at Cook Inlet, the home to the endangered Beluga whale. The sensors enable the monitoring of water quality and pollution levels that affect the whales and other aquatic mammals in the area.

Aridea Solutions, based in West Virginia, United States, responded to the call of the gas leak and designed an Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled buoy to monitor the parameters in the air and the water. The IoT platform that was deployed so that the data could be received and analyzed was over a 900 MHz LoRaWAN connection. Not only was this LoRaWAN connection used for this IoT solution, but a 4G cellular connection was as well, ensuring the buoys’ data was available for scientific analysis.

Having the ability to analyze and monitor the water’s parameters means that both better environmental and industrial outcomes can be delivered. This is because the monitoring systems put in place allow decisions to be made as and when required, and it is possible to keep the variable factors constantly monitored in real time. As a result, the endangered species of the beluga whale can be better protected through IoT technology.

Due to the pollution generated in beluga habitats by human activities, it is becoming increasingly more important for such solutions to be invented, and implemented. Not only will it increase the life span of aquatic mammals such as the beluga whale, but it can also be used for many other different species of whales and dolphins.

The success of the buoy in regard to providing analytical insights to allow divers to be able to repair leakage in the safest weather and water conditions picked up by the sensors within the solution has encouraged Aridea to consider future projects including buoys for environmental emergencies. Specific data is required to understand the behavior of the water and enable safe entry for divers, especially when an issue occurs that must be corrected.

The use of IoT is largely focused around solving a problem that a specific end user can benefit from. There are several different end users that are keen to improve the life span of many different types of animals that we give homes to on this planet. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), for example, are always working to improve the conservation of endangered species.

The use of LoRaWAN for IoT, especially in this context, is much better suited. It is one of the most commonly used Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) for IoT solutions that are being deployed globally within several different market verticals. Due to the nature of the buoys that are being deployed with sensors, it is well-suited due to the fact that low maintenance is a key requirement; it will not be easy to maintain the batteries of the sensors due to their location. Additionally, the use of LoRa allows for connection even when the buoys are temporarily underwater due to waves or unsteadiness.

As an overall technology within the IoT market, LPWA networks are chosen for 75% of market implementations. The introduction of 5G offers little threat to a variety of different IoT solutions due to the expenses incurred by using it for connecting sensors and other pieces of harware to offer an end solution. LoRaWAN is one of the leaders of the connectivity markets, followed by SigFox in terms of LPWA connectivity market shares, especially as it continues to lead, with further private networks being deployed.

In specific places around the globe, terrestrial connectivity methods are dependent on having the required relevant infrastructures in place; though Libelium is using 4G technologies to transmit data from the buoys to the gateways, it would be more efficient to roll out a larger Lora infrastructure. This will become even more feasible with the plans to expand the LoRaWAN-based network coverage to more remote areas with the introduction of space gateways from Lacuna, which are due end of 2019. As long as these plans are successful, the cost of connecting such devices will be reduced, meaning that similar solutions focused on the protection of aquatic life in even more remote areas, such as whales and seals in the Arctic region, will be possible.