Gloucester researchers use "SnotBot" drone to study whales like never before
GLOUCESTER – Iain Kerr is on the hunt for the largest mammals on the planet.
He's head of Ocean Alliance, located in Gloucester, Massachusetts. His group is taking whale conservation to new heights using drones.
He says the drones give opportunities to see and study whales in ways they could've never imagined.
"We can look at the animal's behavior. We can measure how big they are. We can collect their exhalations so one affordable tool is doing many jobs right now, " Kerr said.
Ocean Alliance began working with drones in 2013. Within the last few years, they began collecting exhaled breath condensation, also known as "whale snot."
The whale snot is a biological jackpot with DNA, microbiomes, and hormones. This data was nearly impossible to collect from a live whale.
"I've seen more unique behaviors from a drone in the last five years than I've seen in the previous 25," Kerr said.
In fact, just a few months ago while on expeditions in Mexico, the SnotBot drone dropped a video data tag on the back of a whale. This marks the first time a whale was tagged in this way from a drone.
"We are really journeying into the abyss with the whales," Kerr added.
Kerr said the research that Ocean Alliance is doing is inherently harder because you have to be on the water.
"We have no idea what's going on underwater. That's what is so great about some of the work we are doing," he said.
Marine mammals, including whales, are facing increasing human threats daily. Pollutions, collisions with ships, and entanglements in nets all make the seas a bit more dangerous.
Ocean Alliance says their efforts are so important because oceans are the life-blood of our plants.
"At the end of the day, humanity need to care about our oceans," Kerr said. "We like to say... healthy whales, healthy oceans, healthy humans."
For more information on the work Ocean Alliance does or on their SnotBot drone, visit whale.org for more.