Scientists and town officials in Penobscot, Maine, are using high-tech drones to monitor the clam flats in North Bay, which has experienced a severe decline in clam production in recent years. In fact, there are hardly any clams left to harvest. The drones carry lasers and spectral cameras to study how the mudflats are shifting and changing due to storms, climate change, and other events—and how that may be impacting clam habitat and production.

The northward spread of invasive green crabs—which prey on young clams—due to rising sea temperatures is partly responsible for the disappearance of the clams in North Bay, but biologists are trying to learn if other factors, such as a lack of ice, may be contributing to the problem. The ice once protected the flats from winter storms, but rising temperatures are preventing the ice from forming. Biologists will look at pre-storm and post-storm data to determine any changes in mudflat elevation or sediment type.