NOAA Fisheries hosted a workshop in June 2024 to accelerate the development of advanced technologies used to assess the health of marine mammals in the wild. The workshop focused on three endangered whale species:
- Cook Inlet beluga whale (distinct population segment)
- North Atlantic right whale
- Southern Resident killer whale (distinct population segment)
These species are part of NOAA Fisheries' Species in the Spotlight initiative, a strategic approach to endangered species conservation. The initiative brings greater attention to these species and marshals resources where immediate, targeted efforts can be taken to stabilize their populations and prevent extinction.
Health assessment efforts by NOAA Fisheries and our partners support survival and reproduction, which are critical for population growth in long-lived species like whales. This workshop provided a forum to:
- Discuss the current status of health assessment in these populations
- Share lessons learned in adapting high-tech health assessment techniques to particular species or environments
- Identify the tools or approaches that have the most potential to advance recovery of all marine mammals in the Species in the Spotlight initiative
The workshop brought together more than 60 biologists and other partners across the United States and Canada. They included state and federal governments, independent research institutions, nonprofit organizations, and universities.
The results of the workshop are now available in a NOAA Technical Memorandum. This report provides insights into promising technologies for marine mammal health assessments with benefits to species beyond the focus of the workshop. It also identifies opportunities for improving coordination among researchers during the development and use of health assessment tools.
Understanding Marine Mammal Health
Understanding how different stressors influence marine mammal health—especially reproductive health—can make species recovery actions more precise and effective. But studying health in marine mammals is uniquely challenging, particularly in whales, because they are highly mobile and spend most of their life underwater.
Researchers have already adapted many human and wildlife health assessment techniques for use on whales. These include development of remote biopsy darts to collect tissue samples and drones to collect whale blow samples. Now, more work is needed to implement efficient and effective approaches that gather sufficient health information from individuals and populations.
Participants emphasized the importance of continuing to develop advanced technology to increase the amount of marine mammal health data researchers collect in the wild with minimal disruption to the animal. These included several techniques within NOAA’s Advanced Sampling and Technology for Extinction Risk Reduction and Recovery program, such as the use of:
- Drones
- 'Omics (a suite of advanced techniques used to analyze DNA, RNA, or proteins)
- Other advanced approaches to sample collection and analyses
The program was launched in 2023 to advance NOAA’s mission to prevent extinction and promote recovery of protected species. Its goal is to accelerate transformational technological advancements that help conserve at-risk species and their habitats.
Drones: Conducting Research from Above
The workshop highlighted the need to further improve health assessments using drones. Drones provide a non-invasive way to collect health assessment data from marine mammals at a distance.
Researchers use drones to capture high-resolution images of individuals (also known as photogrammetry) to analyze body size and shape. This approach allows researchers to determine body condition that could be related to age, sex, food availability, or reproductive status. They also use drones to collect data-rich biological samples like blow (i.e., whale breath or “snot”). This data helps us evaluate how healthy the whales are and make better decisions about what a particular population needs to thrive.
Tests of blow samples can tell researchers if whales are stressed, whether they are getting enough to eat, and when they are pregnant. Although photogrammetry can detect pregnancies visually, a biological sample like blow can identify pregnancies earlier and may allow us to detect pregnancy failures.
In the past, researchers collected blow using a pole. Drones allow for sample collection without getting very close to the animal, which is less stressful for the individual and safer for the researchers.
Researchers are still fine-tuning sample collection with drones, including how to maximize the quantity and quality of samples. Once fully developed, this tool could help improve our understanding of reproductive success. It would also measure other aspects of health, such as nutrition and excessive stress, in sensitive marine mammal populations.
'Omics: Studying Genetic Material
Advances in 'omics technologies have revolutionized biological study. Workshop participants called for broader application of 'omics technologies in marine mammal health assessments.
Genetic tools like gene expression analyses can help researchers evaluate how healthy whales are based on cells in small skin and blubber samples. For example, we could measure the copies of genes in skin cells associated with stress response, often referred to as the fight or flight response. The fight or flight response initiates a cascade of signals to prepare the body to respond to stress by increasing the amount of energy available to escape a stressor, such as a loud noise, or fight off a predator.
Transcriptomics provide a snapshot of all RNA copies of all genes present in a sample at a given point in time. Comparing the number of copies of all RNA present in samples between two different states, such as stressed and not stressed, can help us assess health in individuals or populations. The results can tell us how stressed individuals are responding to their environment and how that impacts their overall health compared to non-stressed individuals.
Similarly, metabolomics provides a wealth of data on the different metabolites—molecules that are a part of metabolic processes—in a sample. Metabolites can provide information on physiological functions.
The benefit of an 'omics-level approach is the sheer enormity of data provided for each animal. It allows researchers and managers to maximize the use of small samples to help address management questions. This information helps us translate what is going on in the cells to what might be happening at an individual level. That could include changes in genes associated with immune response that could indicate disease susceptibility, or the discovery of new pathways we have not studied yet.
Surrogate Studies: Applying Insights from Other Species
More technological advances in marine mammal health assessments are on the horizon, thanks to research that our partners are conducting on other marine mammal species.
In some situations, health assessment research and development may not be practical or feasible in endangered populations, like those in the Species in the Spotlight initiative. Studies of surrogate species can produce advancements that apply across species.
The National Marine Mammal Foundation and their research partners are pioneering a sampling technique that uses a device originally designed for humans. The device collects blood in humans by attaching a patch to their skin. Marine mammals have much thicker skin than humans, and anything attached to their skin would need to withstand ocean conditions. Researchers are working to modify the device.
This technology would represent a huge leap forward in our ability to gather health data from marine mammals in the wild. It would significantly improve our understanding and ability to support vulnerable Species in the Spotlight populations.
Improving Management with Health Assessment Science
The most urgent need identified at the workshop was to gain a better understanding of maternal health of three populations:
- Cook Inlet beluga whales
- North Atlantic right whales
- Southern Resident killer whales
High pregnancy and calving rates are key to a population's ability to rebound after a decline. Healthy calves require healthy moms with sufficient nutrition to support them throughout pregnancy and lactation, which require extra energy.
All three populations would benefit from further use of health assessment tools. These tools are capable of measuring the health of potential mothers and identifying the factors most likely to support calf survival. This could include the tools that can diagnose pregnancy to measure pregnancy rates in a population, such as measuring hormones in blow or visually assessing body shape. Studying populations with well-documented calf sighting histories could then determine how many pregnancies resulted in a live calf or whether the pregnancy was lost.
Adding measurements of nutritional health, such as thyroid hormone levels, for the same individuals could tell us whether a female is getting enough food to support a successful pregnancy or milk production. We can use this information to develop actions to improve the availability of food or reduce stressors that may be limiting the number of healthy calves.
Collaborating with partners working on these three marine mammal populations can speed up development of high-tech approaches. It will help ensure that advances in health assessment tools are effective across the species.
