Shooting whales ‘by the book’

The first South Island permit to use a drone to film marine mammals up close has been granted.

The Department of Conservation has granted the permit to Marlborough company GCH Aviation, allowing it to fly drones to within 20 metres of whales, dolphins and seals.

Only two other permits of this kind have been granted in New Zealand – one for the North Island, and one nationwide. Other short-term drone permits have been issued for specific filming projects, and universities hold research permits that include drone use.

GCH Aviation operations manager and drone pilot Colin Aitchison said he ‘‘regularly’’ saw drone footage posted online that was not abiding by the law.

Without a permit, drones could fly no closer than within 150 metres of a marine mammal.

Flying within that distance without a permit could be regarded as ‘‘disturbing or harassing’’ marine mammals, which was an offence under the Marine Mammals Protection Act.

Aitchison said he set out to get the permit so he could provide footage to Marlborough Sounds companies safely and ‘‘by the book’’.

It took a year of emails, meetings and a period of public notification before he was granted the permit on December 3. It will be valid for three years.

He said he hoped that through the process, he could help to educate other drone pilots on the limits around filming marine mammals.

With the new permit, Aitchison has taken two summer expeditions and managed to get footage of humpback whales, sperm whales and dusky dolphins. He was allowed to film from the Marlborough Sounds down to the Kaiko¯ ura peninsula.