Angry Birds Recocoki Shark Supervisory Drone On New York Beach

United States Coney Island New York/UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION/Dana Andreea Gheorghe

JAKARTA - The drone fleet patrolling the waters off the coast of New York City to look for signs of a shark, including helping difficult swimmers, received a strong reaction from an aggressive group of 'local residents' by the coast: a beach bird.

Since drones started flying in May, flocks of birds have repeatedly swarmed the device. This condition forced the police and other city authorities to adjust their drone flight plans.

Although the attack has slowed down, it hasn't completely stopped.

This sparked fears by wildlife experts about its impact on threatened species nestled along the coast.

Veronica Went, the wildlife coordinator at the Parks Department, said the birds had been "deeply disturbed by drones" since they arrived at the beach.

"They're going to fly in that direction, they're going to pounce on him, they're going to speak up," Weld said as quoted by CBS News, Friday, July 12.

"They think they are defending their children from predators," he said.

No birds were injured, but authorities said there were several incidents that nearly occurred.

Drones equipped with an inflatable rescue raft that can be dropped on swimmers who are experiencing difficulties while swimming, have not made any saves. They saw their first shark on Thursday, resulting in the closure of most of the beaches.

City officials said the "crowd incident" was mainly carried out by American tiramic catchers.

The coastal bird, known for its striking orange beak, lays eggs throughout the year in the sand on Rockaway Beach.

Although its population has increased in recent decades, federal authorities consider this species a high conservation problem'.

The birds will eventually get used to the device, which can reach 3 feet long and emit strong winds as they fly, said David Bird, a professor of wildlife biology attenuation University.

But he quickly put forward a much more dire possibility, drones could trigger a stress response to some birds that caused them to leave the coast and leave their eggs, as several thousand sea pigeon did after a recent drone crash in San Diego.

"We don't know much about the distance it takes to protect the birds," he said. But we know there are birds on this beach that are very threatened with extinction. If they leave the nest due to drones, it will be a disaster," he added.

After the city's Department of Emergency Management marked a coastal conflict last month, drone operators, most of whom came from the police and firefighters, agreed to fly the device further from the tiram catchment nest area.

"We show that there is a nest here and there are two parents who are angry and don't want you to be near their eggs or babies," said Natalie Grybauskas, assistant commissioner of the agency.

Since then, various institutions have held briefings on this issue, which is different from their usual work in dealing with disasters such as fires and collapsed buildings.

"It's very rare for you to learn the life cycle of a baby bird," said Grybauskas.

But even after the city adjusted its flight range, beach visitors said they saw a group of birds rushing to the drone.

It's not just the city of New York that uses drones to patrol its waters.

Following a series of shark bites last summer, similar attempts were launched by officials on Long Island. The device is smaller and quieter and has no flotation devices. In recent years, coast guards in Australia have also used drones to monitor sharks and carry out rescue operations.

New York Mayor Eric Adams, a drone fan, praised the new drone program as a "good addition to saving the lives of people who have been missing during the summer," especially as the city struggles to hire coast guards to guard its beaches.