"We were literally dripping with snot in these dishes!"

June 1, 2016 9:03 PM

Low-flying research drones have to watch out for whale snot. Researchers for Ocean Alliance are using DJI's Phantom 4 drone to shadow blue whales in the sea of Cortez, allowing them to capture pictures, video, and — yes — gooey biological samples without disturbing the creatures.
posted by Johnny Wallflower (7 comments total)

Try to overlook the misuse of "cephalopod" in the very first sentence.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:04 PM on June 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

...without disturbing the creatures.

One whale to another: "Is it just me, or are the mosquitoes really big this year?"
posted by 445supermag at 9:25 PM on June 1, 2016 [5 favorites]

Everybody in Wales speaks Phlegmish.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:07 PM on June 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

Amazon taps previously overlooked market.
posted by arcticseal at 10:32 PM on June 1, 2016

Until they come up with a game where a drone hunts you in the wilderness while you listen to ARG updates on your earpiece, this is my favourite usage of drones.
posted by Theta States at 6:31 AM on June 2, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'll have to mention this to a marine biologist friend who's recently been studying krill in the blue whale diet by collecting blue whale feces, with obvious difficulties; maybe she needs similar drones.

She says even when the feces are double-bagged, sealed, and shut in the fridge, they make such a stench that no-one can bear to be in her lab.
posted by anadem at 10:27 AM on June 2, 2016

She would need an underwater drone, then. The tether requirement seems quite limiting, however.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:14 AM on June 2, 2016