Multi-vehicle autonomous tracking and filming of white sharks Carcharodon carcharias

Abstract

In recent years, great technological subsurface advancements have been made to observe and study Carcharodon carcharias, white sharks with autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) [1]. Prior to 2011, tracking pelagic predators like sharks was limited to using active tracking from boats [2] and passive acoustic arrays [3]. These aforementioned techniques proved to be limited by logistics such as weather and boat maneuverability as well as providing poor spatial resolution since fish movements were mimicked by the tracking vessel.