An economical custom-built drone for assessing whale health
Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have huge potential to improve the safety and efficiency of sample collection from wild animals under logistically challenging circumstances. Here we present a method for surveying population health that uses UAVs to sample respiratory vapor, 'whale blo...
Published in: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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Language: | English |
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2017
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Online Access: | https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/publications/eca1a523-e726-4563-8061-b4f68e0d54b8 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00425 https://research-management.mq.edu.au/ws/files/83668538/fmars_04_00425.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85039557558&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP150102326 |
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ftmacquarieunicr:oai:https://researchers.mq.edu.au:publications/eca1a523-e726-4563-8061-b4f68e0d54b8 2024-06-23T07:53:36+00:00 An economical custom-built drone for assessing whale health Pirotta, Vanessa Smith, Alastair Ostrowski, Martin Russell, Dylan Jonsen, Ian D. Grech, Alana Harcourt, Robert 2017-12-21 application/pdf https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/publications/eca1a523-e726-4563-8061-b4f68e0d54b8 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00425 https://research-management.mq.edu.au/ws/files/83668538/fmars_04_00425.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85039557558&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP150102326 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Pirotta , V , Smith , A , Ostrowski , M , Russell , D , Jonsen , I D , Grech , A & Harcourt , R 2017 , ' An economical custom-built drone for assessing whale health ' , Frontiers in Marine Science , vol. 4 , no. DEC , 425 , pp. 1-12 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00425 Blow Conservation Drone Humpback whale Microbiota Technology UAS UAV article 2017 ftmacquarieunicr https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00425 2024-06-12T23:47:22Z Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have huge potential to improve the safety and efficiency of sample collection from wild animals under logistically challenging circumstances. Here we present a method for surveying population health that uses UAVs to sample respiratory vapor, 'whale blow,' exhaled by free-swimming humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), and coupled this with amplification and sequencing of respiratory tract microbiota. We developed a low-cost multirotor UAV incorporating a sterile petri dish with a remotely operated 'blow' to sample whale blow with minimal disturbance to the whales. This design addressed several sampling challenges: accessibility; safety; cost, and critically, minimized the collection of atmospheric and seawater microbiota and other potential sources of sample contamination. We collected 59 samples of blow from northward migrating humpback whales off Sydney, Australia and used high throughput sequencing of bacterial ribosomal gene markers to identify putative respiratory tract microbiota. Model-based comparisons with seawater and drone-captured air demonstrated that our system minimized external sources of contamination and successfully captured sufficient material to identify whale blow-specific microbial taxa. Whale-specific taxa included species and genera previously associated with the respiratory tracts or oral cavities of mammals (e.g., Pseudomonas, Clostridia, Cardiobacterium), as well as species previously isolated from dolphin or killer whale blowholes (Corynebacteria, others). Many examples of exogenous marine species were identified, including Tenacibaculum and Psychrobacter spp. that have been associated with the skin microbiota of marine mammals and fish and may include pathogens. This information provides a baseline of respiratory tract microbiota profiles of contemporary whale health. Customized UAVs are a promising new tool for marine megafauna research and may have broad application in cost-effective monitoring and management of whale populations ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Killer Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Killer whale Macquarie University Research Portal Frontiers in Marine Science 4 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Macquarie University Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftmacquarieunicr |
language |
English |
topic |
Blow Conservation Drone Humpback whale Microbiota Technology UAS UAV |
spellingShingle |
Blow Conservation Drone Humpback whale Microbiota Technology UAS UAV Pirotta, Vanessa Smith, Alastair Ostrowski, Martin Russell, Dylan Jonsen, Ian D. Grech, Alana Harcourt, Robert An economical custom-built drone for assessing whale health |
topic_facet |
Blow Conservation Drone Humpback whale Microbiota Technology UAS UAV |
description |
Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have huge potential to improve the safety and efficiency of sample collection from wild animals under logistically challenging circumstances. Here we present a method for surveying population health that uses UAVs to sample respiratory vapor, 'whale blow,' exhaled by free-swimming humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), and coupled this with amplification and sequencing of respiratory tract microbiota. We developed a low-cost multirotor UAV incorporating a sterile petri dish with a remotely operated 'blow' to sample whale blow with minimal disturbance to the whales. This design addressed several sampling challenges: accessibility; safety; cost, and critically, minimized the collection of atmospheric and seawater microbiota and other potential sources of sample contamination. We collected 59 samples of blow from northward migrating humpback whales off Sydney, Australia and used high throughput sequencing of bacterial ribosomal gene markers to identify putative respiratory tract microbiota. Model-based comparisons with seawater and drone-captured air demonstrated that our system minimized external sources of contamination and successfully captured sufficient material to identify whale blow-specific microbial taxa. Whale-specific taxa included species and genera previously associated with the respiratory tracts or oral cavities of mammals (e.g., Pseudomonas, Clostridia, Cardiobacterium), as well as species previously isolated from dolphin or killer whale blowholes (Corynebacteria, others). Many examples of exogenous marine species were identified, including Tenacibaculum and Psychrobacter spp. that have been associated with the skin microbiota of marine mammals and fish and may include pathogens. This information provides a baseline of respiratory tract microbiota profiles of contemporary whale health. Customized UAVs are a promising new tool for marine megafauna research and may have broad application in cost-effective monitoring and management of whale populations ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pirotta, Vanessa Smith, Alastair Ostrowski, Martin Russell, Dylan Jonsen, Ian D. Grech, Alana Harcourt, Robert |
author_facet |
Pirotta, Vanessa Smith, Alastair Ostrowski, Martin Russell, Dylan Jonsen, Ian D. Grech, Alana Harcourt, Robert |
author_sort |
Pirotta, Vanessa |
title |
An economical custom-built drone for assessing whale health |
title_short |
An economical custom-built drone for assessing whale health |
title_full |
An economical custom-built drone for assessing whale health |
title_fullStr |
An economical custom-built drone for assessing whale health |
title_full_unstemmed |
An economical custom-built drone for assessing whale health |
title_sort |
economical custom-built drone for assessing whale health |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/publications/eca1a523-e726-4563-8061-b4f68e0d54b8 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00425 https://research-management.mq.edu.au/ws/files/83668538/fmars_04_00425.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85039557558&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP150102326 |
genre |
Humpback Whale Killer Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Killer Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Killer whale |
op_source |
Pirotta , V , Smith , A , Ostrowski , M , Russell , D , Jonsen , I D , Grech , A & Harcourt , R 2017 , ' An economical custom-built drone for assessing whale health ' , Frontiers in Marine Science , vol. 4 , no. DEC , 425 , pp. 1-12 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00425 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00425 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
4 |
_version_ |
1802645338219085824 |