Dear MARMAM community, On behalf of my colleagues and co-authors from Monash University and Phillip Island Nature Parks, I am pleased to announce the online publication of our paper titled “Remotely piloted aircraft improve precision of capture-mark-resight population estimates of Australian fur seals” by Karina Sorrell, Rohan Clarke, Ross Holmberg and Rebecca McIntosh in the journal *Ecosphere*. The article is open access and available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2812 ABSTRACT Remotely piloted aircraft (RPA or ‘drones’) have become a powerful tool for use in spatial and temporal ecology. Major benefits for environmental management, including improved accuracy and precision for population monitoring of fauna are being realized. We used Australian fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus) as a model system to assess how counts and capture-mark-resight estimates derived from RPA surveys compared with both traditionally used ground counts, and capture-mark-resight abundance estimates at two colonies in south-eastern Australia. To manage the large volume of data, we implemented a citizen science portal ‘SealSpotter’ to screen RPA-imagery for animals of the target age classes. Capture-mark-resight estimates and direct counts using RPA-imagery provided measurable improvement in monitoring precision when compared with traditional techniques. A key methodological assumption of capture-mark-resight estimates is that there is uniform mixing of marked animals across the focal area. This was also validated using spatial data derived from images and linear models, a novel capability of the RPA technique. Our findings have the potential to improve wildlife monitoring techniques for fur seals, and are broadly transferable to a wide range of other animal taxa where capture-mark-resight techniques are employed. Furthermore, they add to the growing body of evidence that demonstrate the benefits of RPAs for wildlife monitoring exceed those of traditional techniques. All the best, Karina Sorrell *Karina Sorrell | Research AssistantSchool of Geography | Faculty of Science* The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Mobile: +61 432 553 696 Email: karina.sorrell@unimelb.edu.au <https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiC1LLAyaLdAhWFMt4KHTvSA1sQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.melbournebioinformatics.org.au%2Fabout-us%2Fhistory%2F&psig=AOvVaw0Crcfzk0U3kCyX8rP-bhhO&ust=1536192591446399>