Researchers are using drones to transform how we study whales: Snot-collecting drones like the SnotBot capture exhaled mucus for DNA and health insights, while aerial imagery helps measure size, body condition and individual ID. Drones also enable noninvasive tag deployment and have revealed new behaviors — including kelp-based grooming in killer whales — though battery life and line-of-sight regulations remain constraints.
Flying Over Whales: How Drones Are Revolutionizing Marine Mammal Research
Aerial view of a tiny white drone hovering in the air above two huge blue whales, one smaller than the other, seen beneath the surface of the ocean. Cetacean scientists around the world are using this type of technology. - Courtesy of Ocean Alliance
In 2010, after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and caused one of the largest marine spills on record, whale scientist Iain Kerr traveled to the Gulf of Mexico to study impacts on sperm whales. Frustrated by missed opportunities while working from a small boat, a close encounter — when a whale’s exhaled mucus splattered him — sparked an idea that would reshape marine mammal research.
The Birth of the SnotBot
Kerr, who works with the conservation group Ocean Alliance, experimented until he developed the SnotBot: a drone fitted with multiple sterile petri dishes that flies over a surfacing whale and collects exhaled mucus (colloquially called “snot”). That mucus yields a surprising amount of data — DNA, sex, pregnancy status and microbiome composition — without the need for invasive sampling.
From Snot To New Perspectives
Since those early trials, drones modeled on the SnotBot have collected samples from sperm whales, blue whales, dolphins and other species around the world. But collecting snot is only one of many applications. Over the past 10–15 years, drone technology has become far more affordable and easier to use, enabling researchers to gather high-resolution aerial images and video that were previously difficult or prohibitively expensive to obtain from manned aircraft.
What Drones Offer Researchers
- Reduced disturbance and greater safety: Drones reduce the need to approach whales in small boats, lowering stress on animals and improving researcher safety.
- Cost and logistical advantages: Compared with manned planes, drones are cheaper, simpler to operate and often require just one or two people to run.
- Better measurements and identification: The bird’s-eye view enables accurate measurements of body length and condition, improved health assessments, and easier identification of individuals by unique markings.
Tagging, Behavior And New Discoveries
Researchers are using drones to place suction-cup tags that record movement and behavior. Instead of approaching from a boat with a pole or air rifle, a drone can fly over and drop or press a tag onto a whale. In a study published in August 2025, teams successfully used drones to apply tags directly onto whales’ backs.
The aerial vantage point has also revealed novel behaviors. For example, nine hours of drone footage of 25 killer whales filmed off Washington state in 2025 documented individuals using lengths of kelp to groom podmates — a form of tool use that would have been nearly impossible to observe from a boat. “We would never have seen this behavior without the bird’s-eye view that the drone gives us,” says Michael Weiss, a behavioral ecologist at the Center for Whale Research.
Challenges And Emerging Tools
Limitations remain. Small drones typically have short battery lives — often 45–60 minutes per flight — and many countries require operators to keep drones within visual line of sight unless they hold special waivers. Researchers are also experimenting with new applications, such as drone-deployed devices to free whales entangled in fishing gear. Kerr’s team, for instance, is developing a 3D-printed metal cutting hook that a drone could place on a tangle so the animal’s movement will cut through netting and free it.
“Drones have opened an entirely new perspective on how we study whales,” says Joshua Stewart, an ecologist at the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University. “It’s hard to imagine what the next thing might be.”
As drone hardware, battery technology and regulations evolve, so will research methods. Scientists stress careful protocols and permitting to ensure drone use remains noninvasive and safe for the animals. This story was produced by Knowable Magazine and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
