Dr. Holly Fearnbach, SR3’s Marine Mammal Research Director, and her colleagues Dr. John Durban (Southall Environmental Associates) and Jessica Farrer (SR3) recently completed their month-long annual health assessment of top predators (killer whales) and top consumers (humpback and minke whales) in the rapidly warming waters around the Antarctic Peninsula. Hosted onboard Lindblad Expedition’s National Geographic Explorer, the study was supported by the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Conservation Fund. The team was able to collect photo-identification and aerial photogrammetry images of more than more than 150 individual killer whales, extending a fifteen-year time-series of population monitoring and five-year time series of monitoring body condition. They also continued to monitor the health status of large consumers in this system by successfully collecting aerial photogrammetry images of 31 individual humpback whales and three Antarctic minke whales, 12 of these with matching blow samples to assess respiratory microbiome and its relation to body condition. As part of a new, more comprehensive study of the diet of Antarctic killer whales, 6 free-floating fecal samples were collected from Type B2 killer whales- the first-ever fecal samples collected from killer whales in Antarctica, which will be analyzed for dietary composition using genetic techniques. The team is now back home starting the data analysis.
Aerial photograph of adult female Type B2 killer whale with her young, dependent calf swimming below her in echelon. Images like this will be analyzed to estimate size, monitor growth and evaluate body condition. Image was collected from >100ft above the whales using a small hexacopter drone. Research conducted under NMFS Permit No. 19091 and Antarctic Conservation Act Permit ACA 2017-029.
Collage of aerial photographs of 31 individual humpback whale images in the productive coastal waters of the Antarctic Peninsula. Images like these will be analyzed to estimate size and evaluate body condition, and were collected non-invasively from >140ft above the whales using a small hexacopter drone. Research conducted under NMFS Permit No. 19091 and Antarctic Conservation Act Permit ACA 2017-029.
Image showing a small unmanned hexacopter drone about to fly through the blow of a humpback whale in the Antarctic Peninsula. Blow samples are collected to describe the respiratory microbiome of individual whales; respiratory health is then related to estimates of body condition from photogrammetric measures. Research conducted under NMFS Permit No. 19091 and Antarctic Conservation Act Permit ACA 2017-029.