Drone Offers Glimpse into Life of Wild Orcas

For the first time, scientists are using a robotic aerial drone to get up close and personal with orca whales, offering a new glimpse into the life of these marine mammals.

Killer whales are found in oceans throughout the world, but one species in particular, Northern Resident killer whales living off the coast of British Columbia, are considered threatened under Canada's Species At Risk Act. To monitor their health, movement and reproduction, researchers from NOAA Fisheries worked with partners from the Vancouver Aquarium in order to film the animals as they swam through the Johnstone Strait.

Members of this group of whales eat vast quantities of Chinook salmon, which are themselves threatened by human activities. Some scientists are concerned that the lack of prey may be affecting the whales that feed upon them.

Orcas have been filmed before, usually from helicopters, which need to fly well above the water's surface to prevent spooking the whales. But this time researchers received a special permit allowing them to fly the custom-made hexacopter more than 100 feet above the whales - high enough so that the whales wouldn't notice but still close enough to get highly detailed images.

By analyzing the photos of some 82 killer whales, scientists can see how fat or skinny the whales are, which females are pregnant, and how many of these pregnancies are carried to term. For example, in a video, NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center biologist John Durban points out the contrast between a skinny whale on the left, known as A-37, and a healthy whale, A-47, on the right. Males can weigh up to 22,000 pounds, and females usually top out around 16,500 pounds, according to the NOAA.

Researchers also count the number of whales, to determine how many perish over time.

"But mortality is a pretty coarse measure of how well the population is doing because the problem, if there is one, has already occurred," Durban said in a statement.

Use of the hexacopter also "can give us a more sensitive measure that we might be able to respond to before whales die," he added.

Biologists hope that study of the marine mammals utilizing drones can help researchers learn more about the animals, in order to help preserve the species.