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In a new advance of marine research, scientists have decided to use drones to collect samples of fluids exhaled by mammals and monitor their health.
Marine science researcher Vanessa Pirotta of Sydney's Macquarie University said a drone had been used for the first time to collect humpback whale mucus at sea, using a technique to monitor the health of whales in the world.
"We are collecting … this visible plume of mists coming out of the mouth of the whale blowing as they come to the surface to breathe," she said, according to Reuters.
"This approach could ultimately lead to a better understanding of patterns and factors of disease emergence in wild populations," Pirotta and eight co-authors say in an article published in the journal Viruses.
Scientists have collected whale sampling samples of 19 humpback whales during the 2017 annual migration north of Antarctica to northern Australia, they added.
The aerosols are collected in a Petri dish attached to the top of a four-helicopter drone, the pilot of the craft opening a flapper lid while the drone flies over the whale.
The method is less invasive than the use of a boat to get closer and the collection of samples on a pole, and represents an advance over past techniques based on samples taken from stranded or killed whales. this end, said Pirotta.
The whale spray collected by a drone contains DNA, proteins, lipids and types of bacteria.
"We can collect bacteria, in my case, to examine the types of bacteria living in the lungs of whales to badess the health of these," Pirotta said.
In this way, drones serve as an early warning detection system to monitor potential changes in whale health.
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