Progress report for
Achievement at a glance
We have made significant progress towards our goals. Since our last update we have ran two more SnotBot expeditions, both to South East Alaska.\r\n\r\nDuring the first expedition we concentrated on collecting respiratory samples (snot samples!) from whales. We were very successful, exceeding our target sample number with 3 days to go. In addition, we collected our first samples from killer whales. This is the smallest species we have sampled with SnotBot thus far, and it is exciting to know that we can sample species of this size.\r\n\r\nOf great excitement, our laboratory partners were highly successful in their analyses of these samples. Our partners at the University of Alaska Fairbanks tested for and detected a number of hormones in the blow samples, which we can use to determine if an animal is stressed (as well as whether it is pregnant/male/female etc.). We now need to make our protocols for both collection and analysis more efficient. Being able to explicitly say what stresses a whale would have tremendous positive implications for the conservation of whale populations worldwide.\r\n\r\nOur partners at Oregon State University detected DNA in the samples we collected. This is exciting as it validates the use of this tool for easily and non-invasively collecting samples for DNA analysis.\r\n\r\nDuring the second SnotBot expedition we concentrated on collecting other forms of data on whales using drones. Of great excitement, we are now working with Intel to develop software which can accurately gauge the body condition (an excellent indicator of general health) of a whale using just the video feed from a drone. If we can perfect this software the implications would be enormous. Researchers around the world could very easily collect large, robust data sets for determining the health of whales.\r\n
Submitted on
02 January, 2018
Progress Status
On track
Organization
Ocean Alliance
Name
Andy Rogan
Email
arogan@whale.org
