Key Takeaways:
- 1. After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, whale scientist Iain Kerr developed the SnotBot drone to collect whale snot for research.
- 2. The SnotBot drone gathers valuable information such as DNA sequence, sex, pregnancy status, and microbiome composition of whales.
- 3. Drones have revolutionized marine mammal research in the past decade, providing affordable and efficient means for data collection.
Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, scientist Iain Kerr developed the SnotBot drone to collect whale snot for research, providing valuable insights into whale biology. Drones have transformed marine mammal research by offering affordable and efficient data collection tools, benefiting researchers like Joshua Stewart from Oregon State University.
Insight: The use of drones, such as the SnotBot, has revolutionized marine mammal research by providing researchers with a cost-effective and efficient method for collecting valuable data on whales and other species.
This article was curated by memoment.jp from the feed source: Ars Technica.
Read the original article here: https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/11/flying-with-whales-drones-are-remaking-marine-mammal-research/
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