First Guest-Collaborative Drone Project Launched By Ritz Carlton
Thursday 5th of May 2022
Located in one of the most beautiful remote islands of the Maldives, The Ritz-Carlton, Fari Islands has announced the launch of the first guest-collaborative drone project in the field of conservation technological science.
The resort will play a key role in a government-approved research initiative to develop drone technologies to search for and quantify trash in the Indian Ocean and around the Maldives' shorelines, thanks to a unique partnership with British PhD researcher, Melissa Schiele.
Melissa Schiele, the Maldives' first "resort biologist," a PhD researcher at Lough-borough University and the London Zoological Society, has assembled a team of resident naturalists, including scientists and commercially trained drone pilots, to form a unique community of conservation experts from around the world.
Dr. Luca Fallati of MaRHE, the Marine Research and High Education Center, will lead a team that will collect images and analyze data using drones donated by leading marine technologists, Oceans Unmanned, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and hydrophones to feed into ground-breaking plastics detection and wildlife conservation projects.
With this new project in place, guests will be able to join the newly created research team in their groundbreaking work through The Ritz-Carlton, Fari Islands' Jean-Michel Cousteau Ambassadors of the Environment program.
The adventure will begin at the resort, where guests can learn about the latest scientific research from naturalists while putting their piloting talents to the test using world-class drone simulation training software. Taking to the field, guests will traverse the water using a team-piloted drone in search of discarded fishing nets (ghost nets) while taking in the rare species found only in the Maldives' delicate coral reefs.
How exciting and proud for the enormous efforts and work put into this thoughtful project for the greater good of the delicate environment that we reside in.