Puget Sound researchers seen another recently born orca

The orcas are extremely endangered and scientists are using the images to track their growth and health.

American biologists along with the Vancouver Aquarium have now captured captivating images of the endangered species of Puget Sound orcas whales using state-of-the-art drones.

A marine mammal biologist with NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California, John Durban said, “We’re really answering a simple question: Are these killer whales getting enough to eat?” The orcas seem to be fatter than previous year and several of the females appear to be pregnant. They have used drones to count penguins and seals in Antarctica, stellar sea lions in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and to take breath samples of humpback whales off New England.

It appears like orca baby boom has just started. Watch that above. They also released a few b-roll (below) that shows how a few of the images were captured.

Previously, helicopters were used to photograph orcas in the Pacific Northwest. The technology, also known as a hexacopter, is targeted to reach whales, birds, and wildlife in areas that are hard to reach and where small devices can create minimal disturbance. Surprisingly, a baby orca along with its mother and two other whales nursing a mother orca and her calf by bringing salmon to them. The photos were taken with an unmanned aerial vehicle, and to help us understand the photos we have one of the scientists who took them On the Line with us today.

Over several weeks in September, Durban and his colleagues remotely operated a drone from a boat. The drone had a weight of about four and a half pounds and was geared with a specialized cameras and many other gadgets.

The researchers kept the UAV at least 90 feet above the whales at all times to avoid disturbing them.

But the good news is that 81 is five more than there were past year.

The Southern Resident killer whales have lost 20 percent of their population since the 90s.

Killer whales, which mostly consume Chinook salmon, have seen a decline in numbers due to decreasing food, marine contaminants, and vessel traffic disturbance.

“What we’re interested in is change over time that we can attribute to environmental conditions”, said Lance Barrett-Lennard, a senior marine mammal scientist at the Vancouver Aquarium.