Tiny, remote-controlled helicopters hovering above the blowholes of whales have collected snot samples that could help scientists learn which bacteria lurk in seemingly healthy cetaceans in the wild.
“Up until now, all the information we have from whales comes from captive animals or animals that are dead or stranded, and that’s hardly representative of the normal population,” said Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse of the Zoological Society of London.
(Thanks to investigator Hugh Henry for bringing this to our attention.)