Macquarie University/Business Insider Australian researchers are researching humpback whales' health by analysing spray from their blowholes. The scientists developed a waterproof drone to collect the mucus at sea. They say they have successfully sampled 59 whales without upsetting any. Watch the video of the drone in action below. Australian researchers have built a drone to hunt and collect the snot of humpback whales as they pass Sydney. Vanessa Pirotta from Macquarie University says the microbiota living in the blow mucus can tell a lot about the health of the humpback whale population. Humpback numbers have been recovering since the International Whaling Commission banned whaling in the Southern Hemisphere in 1963. "Gathering baseline information of whale lung microbiota provides a snapshot of health information from an animal that is uncatchable," she says. But first is the tricky business of collecting samples.
Comment on This drone collects snot from humpback whales for the good of science
feedback@businessinsider.com (Chris Pash), Business Insider
Mon, 01/15/2018 - 3:29am
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