Eyes in the sky: why drones are ‘beyond effective’ for animal rights campaigners around the world

Inexpensive and easy to use, drones are proving invaluable for activists monitoring illegal fishing, hunting and deforestation - as well as keeping tabs on zoos and aquariums

Late last year, UrgentSeas received an anonymous tip from a former employee at the Miami Seaquarium about animal tanks away from public view. The advocacy group went to investigate.

In November, they posted a short clip of what they found by flying a drone over the property: an elderly manatee living alone in a decaying private pool. Within a month, the clip had been watched millions of times and the outcry had grown so intense that the US Fish and Wildlife Service moved the manatee, Romeo, and his mate, Juliet, to a sanctuary.