Abstract
AbstractWe trialed the collection of blow samples using a waterproof electric multirotor (quadcopter) drone from two free‐ranging dolphin species, the abundant and approachable bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) and the less common and boat shy humpback dolphin (Sousa sahulensis). This drone was fast, maneuverable, and quiet compared to other drones commonly used in studies of cetaceans and relative to their hearing thresholds. We were successful in collecting blow samples from four individual dolphins (three bottlenose dolphins and one humpback dolphin) in two groups. The success of obtaining samples was dependent on the individual dolphin's activity. We were successful in sampling when dolphins were resting and socializing but found that socializing dolphins were not predictable in their surfacing and direction and therefore do not recommend drone sampling socializing dolphins. The suitability and preference of the sampling technique over biopsy sampling is highly dependent on the dolphin activity. We also attempted to extract DNA from the blow samples with the aim of assessing the feasibility of using blow sampling by drone for population genetic studies. We were unsuccessful in extracting DNA and recommend that others attempting to sample dolphin blow with a drone should prioritize collecting a larger volume of blow that may yield adequate concentrations of DNA to be amplified. Blow sample volume could potentially be increased by sampling with more absorbent materials.
Highlights
Wild marine mammals can be notoriously difficult to study as they spend most of their time underwater and out of sight of the observer
Five attempts were made per dolphin group, but a maximum of 16 attempts was made on one bottlenose dolphin group
We were successful in obtaining samples from four individual dolphins, from two different groups, including three from bottlenose dolphins and one from a humpback dolphin
Summary
Wild marine mammals can be notoriously difficult to study as they spend most of their time underwater and out of sight of the observer. Blow samples collected from cetaceans can be analyzed for DNA to investigate population structure (Frere et al 2010), analyzed for hormones for stress (Hunt et al 2014, Thompson et al 2014) and health (Apprill et al 2017), and screened for epizootics, microbiota (Pirotta et al 2017), and viruses (Geoghegan et al 2018) Such studies have been successfully executed on large cetaceans such as baleen whales (Domınguez-Sanchez et al 2018, Harcourt et al 2019) as these animals have proven the most suitable to approach and sample with this emerging technology. Sampling blow from free-ranging dolphins that cannot be and consistently approached closely remains challenging
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