Drone-based Infrared Thermography to Evaluate the Health and Physiology of Large Whales

Baleen whales are known for their massive size and cryptic underwater lives, making them difficult subjects for health assessments. As a result, scientists lack baseline information on certain metrics of whale health, such as internal body temperature. Rather than catching whales and sticking thermometers in their mouths, colleagues and I have developed a less invasive protocol that uses drone-based infrared thermography (IRT) to obtain absolute temperatures of whale blowholes, so we can start asking questions like: Do whales get fevers or experience hypothermia, due to injury, disease, or the loss of insulative blubber? In addition to this quantitative measure of health, drone-based IRT is offering new insight into other aspects of the thermal physiology of large whales, which Gina is excited to discuss with attendees at this upcoming TWS webinar.