What a Raft

Photo by U.S. Geological Survey, via Bureau of Ocean Energy Management - they write:

With the US Geological Survey (USGS) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is studying the sea otter population in Alaska's Cook Inlet to understand how many sea otters there are, which habitats and areas they are using, and how habitat use changes seasonally. This study will aid our decision-making processes. By better understanding sea otter behavior and habitat use, we can make decisions that better protect them and their habitats, while also fostering offshore energy development. Another goal of the study is to advance modern surveying methods. The study team is developing artificial intelligence methods for automatically detecting and counting sea otters from hundreds of thousands of aerial survey images. This method is proving successful, and it greatly reduces the cost and increases the safety of conducting sea otter surveys.