scientific discipline want some odd and unglamorous jobs . One of these is collecting the excretions of animals you need to study , which can be in particular tough when the beast concern consider 36 tonnes ( 39 stacks ) and hold up underwater . Nevertheless , Fletcher Mingrammis erupt newfangled ground in this quest .
For his PhD at the University of Queensland , Mingramm is collect whale reversal . This is neither the cetaceous equivalent of cocain , nor a product of their unwritten sex ( which whalesdo charter in , although we paint a picture not google details ) . rather , it is the name given to the mixture of snot , air , and water system unblock from their blowholes when heavyweight breathe out .
Whale blow is so utilitarian to biologists there was even an award to a team whoused dronesto collect it . OK , it was the reasonably toungue - in - cheek2010 Ig Nobel award , but this is still clearly authoritative research .
Mingramm ’s methodology is more low-pitched - tech , put a purse on an extremely long rod and sailing close enough to his objective to commit the bag where it may enamour some of what the whales are putting out .
When collecting whale gust , you require a very long magnetic pole . Fletcher Mingramm
All this seems like a lot of effort to get something most people would rather obviate , but Mingramm hopes to use the blow to demonstrate that we can learn a circumstances about giant without having to stamp out them , or even garner fatness cell .
" We know that Australian hunchback whale populations have been increase since hoi polloi stopped track down them , but we do n’t know why they are increasing at such an exponential rate , " Mingramm said in astatement . “ Neighboring humpback population in the South Pacific remain low , although records show they historically had eminent numbers . The fact they are not recoup well suggests something else is go on with respect to key appendage , such as eat or breeding , and this is something we need to better interpret . ”
Mingramm is seeking to track reproductive and adrenal hormones , which should tell us whether the heavyweight are fertile , pregnant , or stressed . Even being capable to determine the gender of the whales , which he told IFLScience is very difficult to do visually , would be a offset .
The blow samples Mingramm collects are compare with hide samples taken by firing dart that bounce off the whales ' skin . “ There ’s pressure level in the scientific community to find non - encroaching method , ” Mingramm told IFLScience . If he is able to rise he can get the same info from the blast as the cutis , future whale wo n’t need to be darted anymore .
Mingramms told IFLScience that he has an hr to collect a tissue biopsy and bluster sample per giant . “ It sometimes happens in twenty minutes under skilful circumstance and with helpful animals , ” he say . More often , however , it raise challenging , even with specially design traveling bag filled with a sterile nylon mesh that capture the faintest traces of blow . Some whales just do n’t acknowledge when to breathe out .
Maybe Mingramm should be try funding fromPornhub . What he ’s doing may not be sexy , but the punning are endless .
