Researchers have shared magical aerial footage of over 20 Southern Resident killer whales swimming together in Washington state.
The orca scientists recorded the pod of whales – known as J pod – swimming, breaching, and even belly rubbing in the Salish Sea, Washington state.
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“In the footage, you can see two siblings, J-51 and J-58, serenely belly rubbing – a social behaviour that highlights how Southern Resident killer whales are social and tactile,” says Hendrik Nollens, vice president of wildlife health at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
Nollens and his team are using drones as a way of learning more about the killer whales’ lives without stressing them out by getting too close.
“Using these same drones we’re able to non-invasively monitor killer whale health by collecting breath and faecal samples as well as intranasal temperatures to better understand the health of the pod and the threats that they face,” he says.
There may be just 73 Southern Resident killer whales left in the world so conservationists are urgently trying to find out how to protect them from the threats they face.
Nollens adds: “With so few southern resident killer whales remaining, finding opportunities to improve the health of even individual whales can significantly improve the chances for this population to rebound.”
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