Doing Whale Research in the Arctic using Drones (Project Blowomics)

In January 2025 I joined a team of researchers in Northern Norway to help carry out drone operations with the aim of collecting blow samples from whales. We managed to sample humpback, fin and killer whales.

The purpose of the Blowomics project is to develop non-invasive methods for collection of biomarkers. More specifically the project aims to find microRNA in the blow of large free swimming animals. These non-coding proteins could potentially be linked to certain health states of the whales.

Many thanks to

Prof. Courtney Waugh - Nord University
Prof. Christian Sonne - Aarhus University
Prof. Patricia Alonso - University of La Laguna
Dr. Marco Munari - University of Padova
Helena Costa - Nord University
Federica Dellepiane - University of Turin
Julien Fetet - European Institute for Marine Studies (IUEM)
Louise Fargette - European Institute for Marine Studies (IUEM)
Elzéar Grassin - European Institute for Marine Studies (IUEM)

Music used:

"Hopeful" by Cold Cinema
Link: https://bit.ly/3aSA33u