anymore or are starting to actually die out,
well how do you want to react to this if you
can’t manage it? It’s about having a proactive
approach rather than waiting until the
possibility that whales might start washing
up on our shores and we start to freak out
because we’re not prepared.
“Genes play a big part too. There’s a lot of
stresses. We think about climate change and
temperature differences, we think about food
shortages not only because of an increasing
population but the shifting availability of krill
- there is a need for the animals to respond
and adapt to all of this. Of course, if you have
a wide section of genetic material (from a
large gene pool) then you have a much better
chance to respond to it, but if you’re coming
from a sparse gene pool, the chances over
generations that one whale will, for example,
handle hot water better or may be able to
swim further to places where the krill may
have moved to ... well it becomes very likely
not to happen.”
The sun dips as we creep into the afternoon.
We’re heading south now in full convoy with
the pod, carefully keeping afar as to not cause
distress, but close enough to get the drone
up every six minutes or so and try for another
snot sample. Each run gets a new petri dish
and a new copter battery - they’ve got this
interchange methodology wired it seems.
We’re coming up on a few whales off the port
side when the drone heads into the blue, and
with the sun behind us little Tom scores a
direct hit - at least we think so. Olaf’s drone
swiftly swoops right through the mist, and I
glance back to see our pilot keenly steering
the drone back. He seems to have a sixth
sense for the whales and a sort of built in
biological timer, set for exactly how long
the whales spend underwater. It seems to
alert him to when they are about to surface.
He is clearly an advanced observer and
understands these creatures very well.