Recently, the NOAA’s Fisheries and the Vancouver Aquarium researchers have captured the stunning pictures of Orca whales who were swimming and playing. Moreover, the researchers have also witnessed the death of two orca whales in the region.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is the government agency, which studies the conditions of the atmosphere and oceans told, “researchers has used a drone to study orca whales in the region”. In the entire history, this was the first time when researchers flew a drone (custom-built hexacopter) in order to study orcas. A high-resolution camera was fitted inside the drone in order to capture images of the species of whale. The drone flew into the region of Johnstone Strait off British Columbia.
Furthermore, the researchers had kept the hexacopter at a distance of 100 feet from the orcas, so that it would not agitate the orcas, still the camera photographed detailed images of the killer orca whales. The researchers believed that these images would eventually help them in better understanding the behavior and health of the whales.
The researchers further stated that, the pictures photographed by the hexacopter, would not just provide the glance of orca’s life, but these will also help us in order to know whether the killer whales are doing well or whether they are getting sufficient food.
The orca whales depend on Chinook Salmon, endangered species, for their food, researchers stated. They told, deficiency of Chinook Salmon could affect the population of the orca whales.
NOAA researchers stated that, while observing, we found that an orca whale was in a poor condition and went under the water and never resurfaced. The researchers believed that the orca whale was dead.
“Another orca’s death is still a mystery for researchers. It has not been determined yet if it was sick or injured,” Lance Barrett-Lennard, lead researcher of Vancouver Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Research Program, stated.