During the first day of the test, the crew used the Puma for several types of surveillance at Rodrig

Lt. j.g. Kyle Salling stood on the bow of a 24-foot boat in Florida Bay, holding what looked like a large model airplane. With the propellers gently whirling, and the small red and green aviation lights on, Sims launched the 13-pound aircraft like he was throwing a javelin.
The remote-controlled Puma AE banked upward into the sky and began heading toward its target, a mangrove island called Pigeon Key about a quarter-mile away in the vast Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
A flock of frigatebirds hovering around the island scattered well before the arrival of the Puma, which also looks like a big bird with its nine-foot wingspan. While there is no way of knowing if it was the Puma that startled the seabirds, many of them did return. The Puma circled the island from about 200 feet above, capturing a bird's-eye view of the seabirds' activities on both video and in still pictures that were transmitted in real time back to a computer on the boat.
It was one of several tests that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been conducting for 18 months in marine sanctuaries around the country to see if these unmanned aircraft can be transitioned from military roles into scientific ones.
Last year, NOAA purchased three Pumas and a ground station that includes the remote controls and computers to receive the video and pictures for $400,000 from California-based AeroVironment, said Vernon Smith, media director for the National Marine Sanctuary Program. The miniature drones already have been tested at Channel Island in California, Grey's Reef in Georgia, Olympic Coast in Washington orlando florida vacation home rentals state and Humpback Whale National orlando florida vacation home rentals Marine Sanctuary in Hawaii.
With federal budget cuts, the U.S. Navy tested a similar Puma AE (which stands for all environment) orlando florida vacation home rentals from the flight deck of the HSV 2 Swift. They demonstrated how it could be used to track a go-fast boat in a mock drug smuggling operation.
NOAA also is hoping the Pumas will work for science missions, too, because they are cheaper, greener and safer than manned flights. The Puma can operate for two hours on its lithium batteries. "All we do is plug it into a wall charger to fill up," Sims said.
And it doesn't require an aircraft carrier on which to land. It's almost like a seaplane. Sims landed it in the water. The boat captain drove over to it and Sims and Lt. j.g. Kyle Salling plucked it out of the water.
Sims, a pilot, goes through a stringent safety and operational checklist before every flight. While the Puma can fly about 12 miles from the remote-control operator, NOAA limits the distance to visual line of sight. "So we only go about one mile out and only as high as 500 feet," Sims said. "That way we can get away from other air traffic to make everybody safe. We look out for everything from little Cessnas to kiteboarders."
Stephen Werndli, the enforcement and emergency response coordinator for the Keys' national marine sanctuary, said the Pumas have many potential uses within the 2,900-nautical-square-mile protected site.
They include doing wildlife surveys, bird surveys orlando florida vacation home rentals out at remote islands in the back country and visitor usage surveys; documenting marine and shoreline debris; assessing prop scar damage; responding to boat groundings and monitoring of oil spills.
The eight-day test began in the Upper Keys on Sept. 14 and ended at the Western Dry Rocks off Key West on Sunday. It included videoing before-and-after pictures from a shoreline cleanup near big Pine Key on Saturday for International Coastal Cleanup Day.
The Puma also will be tested on Big Pine Key to survey endangered Key deer, by day and night. "At night, we'll use infrared cameras," Werndli said. "They might blend in during the day and be difficult to see, but you never know."
During the first day of the test, the crew used the Puma for several types of surveillance at Rodriguez Key, a wildlife managed area of shallow flats popular with fishermen and birders orlando florida vacation home rentals east of Key Largo.
The Puma was used to collect information about the number of vessels using the site and for what purposes. It also took video of prop scars, flew over islands to view birds and discovered a big blue sewer pipe in about three feet of water.
In the past, the sanctuary has had difficulty studying the magnificent frigate birds, whose skeletal structures are too fragile to have tracking tags. "They are built to be light and long and gangly orlando florida vacation home rentals to catch the air currents," Donahue said. "Using the unmanned aircrafts to fly where those birds are foraging might help us identify critical habitat."
The Puma also can help with developing a plan for the salvage operation of large boat groundings. "The charts might show it looks like it's better to tow to the west, but up in the air it might show the shorter distance is to tow to the east," Werndli said. "That could reduce the impact to the resource."
And while NOAA is primarily looking at the Puma for science reasons, orlando florida vacation home rentals it could be used in law enforcement. During the test in the Dry Tortugas, the Puma was used to give officers information on what to expect when they board a boat.
"You will not always see an open deck on a center console," Werndli said. "But if you are coming in on the port side and someone on the starboard is dumping illegal catch over the side, it could have a niche for law enforcement."
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