From The 1st of October NWS will be embarking on a program of Aerial surveys. These will involve an aircraft flying at a height of 500 metres photographing both the sea and the land. Supposedly this is to study the migration patterns of birds and mammals in the search area. The real question is why. we have organisations like Natural England and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds which constantly study these migration patterns. The information is there for the asking.
The study will also be used to assess the suitability of the site. Here the question is can flying over the site at 500 metres give more information on the search area than a satellite image on Google Maps. Yes, Geophysical surveys could possibly give more information but how effective it can be from 500 metres above the site is questionable, to say the least.
What it does demonstrate is how deep are the pockets of NWS. They have so much cash at their disposal that they can send it on surveys that provide information we already have.