Drones detect deadly virus in the breath of Arctic whales

Whale breaths collected by drones provide clues to the health of wild humpback whales and other whales.

Scientists flew drones equipped with a special array through exhaled droplets, or “strokes,” which occur when the giants come up to breathe through their blowholes.

They have discovered a highly contagious virus linked to mass strandings of whales and dolphins around the world.

Professor Terry Dawson, from King’s College London, said sampling whales was a “game-changer” for the health and wellbeing of whales.

“It allows us to monitor pathogens in live whales without stress or damage, providing important insights into diseases in rapidly changing Arctic ecosystems,” he said.

The researchers used drones carrying sterile Petri dishes to capture droplets from the exhaled breath of humpback, fin and sperm whales, as well as skin biopsies taken from boats.

They confirmed for the first time that the killer whale virus, known as cetacean measles virus, is spreading above the Arctic Circle.

This disease is highly contagious and spreads easily among dolphins, whales and porpoises, causing severe illness and mass mortality.

It can jump between species and travel across oceans, posing a major threat to marine mammals.

Researchers hope that this breakthrough will help detect deadly threats to life in the oceans early, before they begin to spread.

“Going forward, the priority is to continue using these methods for long-term monitoring, so we can understand how multiple emerging stressors will shape whale health in the coming years,” said Helena Costa of Nord University in Norway.

The study, which involved King’s College London, the Royal Veterinary College (DEC) in the UK, and Nord University in Norway, was published in BMC Veterinary Research.