Scientists are now collecting the exhaled breath of whales using drones, offering a non-invasive way to assess the health of these massive marine mammals. The innovative technique could revolutionize how researchers track disease outbreaks in whale populations.
Drones Offer a Breath of Fresh Insight into Whale Health
A new method for sampling whale respiratory microbes is providing scientists with a less stressful way to monitor whale health.
- Researchers are using drones to collect exhaled breath samples from whales.
- The method is less invasive than traditional dart-gun biopsies or relying on samples from deceased whales.
- Analysis of these samples can reveal the presence of viruses and bacteria impacting whale health.
- Initial findings in Arctic waters detected cetacean morbillivirus and herpes virus.
“Drones have really revolutionized our ability to get a biological sample from a wild whale,” says Amy Apprill, a marine microbial ecologist from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
A: Researchers are flying drones over surfacing whales and capturing their exhaled breath on petri dishes attached to the drone. This method avoids the stress of traditional biopsy techniques and provides a non-invasive way to study whale health.
Traditionally, obtaining samples from live whales involved approaching them in a boat and using a dart gun to collect a small skin sample. Apprill, who was not involved in the current study, noted that most samples previously came from whales that had already died.
The process involves piloting a drone over whales as they surface to breathe through their blowholes—the equivalent of nostrils. Scientists use live camera footage to position the drone directly over a whale preparing to exhale, capturing the breath on specialized petri dishes.
Helena Costa, lead author of the study, described the experience as a mix of stress and excitement. “Of course, in the moment it’s like a lot of people just screaming ‘Fly lower’ or ‘Go right’ and ‘The whale is coming.’ So it’s a lot of chaos on the boat. But of course, once you look back and you see the results and you see how well the method works, that’s a lot of fun.”
By analyzing the microbes present in whale breath, scientists aim to understand how diseases spread within whale populations. While there are currently no treatments for sick whales, this information can help managers reduce stress on the animals—for example, by temporarily adjusting shipping lanes—or implement measures to prevent the spread of diseases transmissible to humans.
From 2022 to 2025, researchers collected samples from whales in Arctic waters near Norway and Iceland. They detected cetacean morbillivirus, a virus that can suppress the immune system and cause severe illness in whales, dolphins, and porpoises, and has been linked to several mass die-offs. Herpes virus was also identified, often asymptomatic but potentially dangerous for immunocompromised animals.
Notably, the team did not detect avian influenza virus or the bacteria Brucella, both of which can infect humans.
Costa emphasized the importance of long-term data collection. “Because obviously four years of data is interesting, but if we have 30 years of data we can understand better the dynamics of the circulation of these pathogens…how some stressors, for example, pollutants or climate change, are affecting these dynamics of these diseases.”
Listen to how scientists are decoding whale clicks with AI here
Read the full research article here
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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson and Kai McNamee. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineers were Maggie Luthar and Peter Ellena.
