Santa Barbara, California. (July 29, 2023): Most Americans envision the Coast Guard seizing bad guys and rescuing folks at sea, but most do not realize the vital role this service plays in responding to oil spill disasters.

In this photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Richard Uranga, a team of specialists from the U.S. Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and federal Water Mapping experts undergo advanced drone training aboard the USCG Cutter Blackfin. The week-long training involved using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to collect test images of oil spills to quickly evaluate the impact and the response needs of actual oil spill incidents.

In fact, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act requires the Coast Guard to contain and clean up oil spills in coastal waters and to minimize the environmental damages. In this role, the Coast Guard prepares regional and local contingency plans for how to respond to oil spills involving multiple state and local jurisdictions.

The advent of unmanned aerials systems has added an extremely powerful tool to accelerate emergency response to oil disasters. The Coast Guard deploys the Predator drone for use at sea and the smaller, shorter range, Scan Eagle from its cutters. The service also employs the larger, more versatile, MQ-9 Reaper Guardian to assist Customs and Border Protection with aerial surveillance.

In the past, a Coast Guard Cutter encountering an oil spill would radio for a helicopter to be dispatched to the scene. With these modern UAS tools, the crew instantly launches a UAS within minutes of arrival and feeds the resulting footage “live” back to the ship. This technology allows responders to quickly assess the seriousness of the spill and what equipment is needed to contain it. Tasks that would have taken hours are now accomplished in minutes thanks to these eyes in the sky.