Now, Ocean Alliance has launched a Kickstarter campaign, where they’re aiming to crowdfund $225,000 to support three expeditions to sites Ocean Alliance calls “vital to the future survival of whales on our planet”. The innovative method includes a drone that could fly above the whale and thus avoid causing it any kind of disturbance. The bots are custom-built, and are designed to hover safely above the whale and collect the “snot” without disturbing it. They collect everything from DNA, hormones, and determine virus and bacteria loads, and hosts of more important date that gives a clear picture of these animals in their natural environment, on their own terms. Well, in a nutshell, what Ocean Alliance wants to do is build a fleet of drones capable of collecting whale snot. 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 reflect that? Snotbots, as they call them, are custom-built drones created in partnership between Ocean Alliance and Olin College of Engineering.
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That might sound gross, but for the whales, it’s less disruptive than having researchers chase them with a speedboat and then shoot them with a crossbow to collect a tissue sample.
After every instance, Ian Kerr explains that it is all in the name of research, but it is absolutely obvious that the entire process is significantly flawed and is in great need of improvements. This organization has been protecting and researching whales for decades, and over the past few months, they’ve cooked up a insane new method for gathering biological data on large marine mammals.
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So what exactly is this project seeking funds for? If the SnotBot proves to be successful, it could even inspire other similar devices that could be used in the research projects that target terrestrial animals.
