Patrick Stewart Promotes Local Effort To Collect Whale Snot Using Drones

They even got help from a celebrity friend: Sir Patrick Stewart from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and the X-Men movies. “So our team glide the majority of these drones in the lapping water, the whales inhale various times”. This organization has been protecting and researching whales for decades, and over the past few months, they’ve cooked up a mad new method for gathering biological data on large marine mammals.

So what exactly is this project seeking funds for? This could be a painless and stress free method of collecting samples, compared to the biopsy dart that is both painful and stressful to the animal.

To fund the project, the Ocean Alliance, along with the Olin College of Engineering, decided to start a Kickstarter campaign.

Because Snot Bot is non-invasive, Kerr believes scientists will be able to gather more data, more easily thus revolutionizing whale research.

“If all your doctor knew about your health was from chasing you around the examination room, blasting an airhorn and jabbing you with a needle, wouldn’t your chart would reflect that?” says Ocean Alliance CEO Iain Kerr in a statement. But these aren’t just any old drones.

Snot Bot is a drone designed to hover above a whale and collect mucus from its blowhole. After collection by the Snotbot, researchers can analyze bacteria levels, DNA and any toxins that may have infiltrated the whale’s system. It also allows them to check the animal’s hormone levels, which provides useful information on the whale’s reproductive cycles, as well as the stress levels they experience as a result of increased human activity in the oceans.

Overall, the Ocean Alliance wants to raise $225,000 to build the waterproof drones, and it’s offering rewards like hats, documentaries and whale-watching trips to contributors.