Check Out What We're Up To!
As a non-profit organization with our hands in a broad array of different environmental fields, we try and align our focus with partners and research opportunities that share our passions and goals. With so many incredible organizations here in Miami and all of South Florida, the opportunities to involve ourselves - but more importantly allow others to involve themselves - has been truly inspiring.
Cetacean Aerial Survey Project (CASP)
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We at MORAES are proud to announce our Cetacean Aerial Survey Project (CASP) in collaboration with Dolphin Research Center (DRC). Located in Grassy Key, FL, DRC is a non-profit facility that aims to utilize education and research to promote a balanced coexistence between marine mammals and humans within the environment.
How it Started...
DRC has graciously opened their doors (or more accurately their lagoons) to allow MORAES to begin a research project focused on collecting marine mammal data through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or more commonly referred to as, drones. With the incorporation of UAVs into the field of researching marine mammals, countless possibilities can now be considered as a result of their versatility, and the scope of data collection can now be broadened dramatically. With the help of DRC and their resident population of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus located within their facility, we at MORAES can focus our efforts on increasing the project's efficiency before hopefully expanding our efforts into wild bottlenose dolphin populations. study general marine mammology in South Florida associated with (but not limited to) microbiome work, virology, morphometry, metabolomics, and genetics.
How it's Going...
This partnership between DRC and MORAES is an excellent example of two organizations working together toward one common goal: conservation. Additionally, by standardizing research methods for non-invasive data collection techniques with UAVs, we hope to promote advances in the marine mammal conservation community and provide DRC with imperative data in the fields of animal husbandry, alternative data collection methods, conservational efforts, and educational outreach.
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Need a Drone Pilot?
MORAES retains a certified FAA Remote Pilot ready to assist with other marine science projects!
Under Federal Aviation Administration Remote Pilot Certificate #4790253, MORAES staff currently utilizes the Aeroo Pro Fishing Drone with 4K Camera, 3 axis gimbal, 720 KV, and 2.2 lbs payload, for our CASP project in the Keys.
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If you're in need of a drone pilot, feel free to contact us directly at info@soflomoraes.com for pricing, availability, etc.
CASP Abroad
In 2025 the MORAES team along with Dr. Trone, Professor at Valencia College, set out for a 12 day adventure to the Amazon River with the goal of establishing benchmark morphometric data of the Amazon (pink) River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) or as they are locally known, “bufeos”. In collaboration with the Morpho Institute, our team traversed the mighty river in search of the elusive and critically endangered Amazon River dolphins. During encounters, MORAES researchers would launch the drone and begin surveying while hydrophones were suspended into the river to capture acoustic recordings. Overall the team recorded 45 drone flights, 15 hours of total flight time, over 100 miles of river explored, and directly encountered 67 pink river dolphins and 52 gray river dolphins (Sotalia fluviatillis) over 10 days on the river.
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MORAES is honored to have played in role in the collection of data that can be used to help spread awareness and raise conservation measures for the majestic Amazon River dolphin. Thank you to Valencia College and The Morpho Institute for making this trip possible!