A group of researchers from Oklahoma State University’s Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education (OAIRE) – together with biology researchers from Stephen F Austin State University and members of Dolphin Quest, an organisation dedicated to creating meaningful connections between people and dolphins – have designed an unmanned aerial system (UAS) that can collect dolphin exhalations, an innovation that could be used to determine the health of wild dolphin populations.
The teams’ recent first-of-its-kind breath sample capture, made at Dolphin Quest’s Hawaii location, is part of ongoing research efforts, started in 2019, to observe and document health and stress levels in dolphins affected by human disturbance.
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‘We’ve recently had success in the collection of mucus from a dolphin, using an unmanned aerial system during a field test at Dolphin Quest Hawaii,’ said Jamey Jacob, director of OAIRE. ‘The breakthrough demonstrates that sample collection is feasible using a UAS that has little to no impact on the animal.’
The system used for sample capture has been through several iterations, overcoming performance obstacles and determining the vehicle that would pose as little impact to the dolphin as possible.
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The engineers at OAIRE decided on a fixed-wing airframe that houses a collection device in the nose of the aircraft. During field testing, the aircraft flew along a designated flight path and coincided with the release of a dolphin by trainers in the hope that the aircraft could fly through a plume as the dolphin breached the surface and exhaled.
‘It was a bit of luck and a bit of practice,’ said Daniel Gassen, a research and development engineer with OAIRE who continued this research from his Master’s thesis. ‘We collected the sample during our last week at Dolphin Quest Hawaii, so it was very exciting to experience success with little time left on our visit.’
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The device uses an iris, much like a camera, that opens to a tube that houses an electric fan that, when switched on, creates a low-pressure area in front of the aircraft and effectively sucks the sample into the tube.
The team estimates that the sample gathered was enough to determine DNA, location tracking and viral load for the animal. However, they believe the sample will need to be two to three times larger to assess hormone levels and provide a more comprehensive health assessment of the animal.
The teams’ ultimate goal is to determine the health of wild dolphin populations that may have been impacted by human actions such as oil spills, boat noise or environmental events.
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‘As of now, we’re using off-the-shelf aircraft,’ said Zach Yap, an OAIRE engineer and project member since 2022. ‘However, we believe that a specially designed airframe would allow us to house a larger collection device and perhaps fly at slower speed so that we can stay above the pod of dolphins and have a longer duration inside the plume.’
The partnership with Dolphin Quest has been instrumental to the success of this first-of-its-kind breath sample capture. From learning more about the mechanics of a dolphin’s breath plume during trips to Dolphin Quest Bermuda or experiencing the first successful breath sample capture at Dolphin Quest Hawaii, the hands-on, personal interactions with Dolphin Quest staff and animals allowed for a better understanding between engineer, biologist and marine mammal.
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The team is continuing to make advancements with the aircraft and hopes to travel to the Gulf of Mexico soon to field test with wild dolphins and begin collecting data that may help researchers better understand these protected marine mammals.