An Australian researcher is using inexpensive drones to discover why the health of whales, off the coast of Australia, is deteriorating. Griffith University researcher Dr Jan-Olaf Meynecke told Mashable collecting bacteria, and at a later stage, DNA from viruses, will help to establish a baseline understanding of respiratory infections in the humpback whales.
“Similar to humans whales can get a flu or cold. They are signs of a weak immune system and can tell us a great story about whale health,” he said.
The using of drones for the study has allowed for the capturing of some amazing footage of the humpback breathing.
Meynecke’s study followed reports of stranded whales being underweight and possibly starving, and many photographed with skin infections.
It is unknown what is causing the health problems of the humpbacks, but it is possible changing migration patterns could be to blame. “The early northern migration are also indicating shifts in population dynamics that can cause stress,” Meynecke said.
It could also be the increased number of whales migrating annually up the east coast of Australia from Antarctica, which have risen to 19,000, since the days of whale hunting in the mid-century when numbers dwindled down to the hundreds.
Meynecke said the drone he used for the pilot study, which he launched in June from North Stradbroke Island in Queensland, is a cheap quadcopter drone with automated stabilisation and GPS function.
“Researchers have been using drones before but they relied on very expensive equipment,” Meynecke said. “My aim was to enable the collection of whale blow with the most basic technology available.”
The drone would hover over the migrating whales and collect mucus in a petri dish from the whale blow. With the whale breathing only every few minutes, the time of the drone moving in for collection had to be perfect.
During the pilot, the drone collected 11 samples from eight different animals. Three decent samples are needed to allow the study to be successful.
“We are yet to analyse the samples. But I am confident that we have captured sufficient amounts of whale DNA and DNA from bacteria. The samples will be subject to treatment in the next few weeks and results are hopefully available in December,” Meynecke explained.
Source: Mashable