veterinary medicine and drone technology can help free whales trapped in fishing gear

We’ve reimagined how sedation can save entangled whales in a smarter, safer way.

Problem

When whales swim up and down the coastline to feed and breed, they can encounter fishing gear in the water. When they make contact with lines, they often roll in an effort to get free. 

Unfortunately, this makes the gear wrap around their bodies, soon becoming a time bomb, cutting, constricting its flippers, and limiting its ability to feed.

It can take weeks, months, or years, but eventually many of these entanglements are fatal.

Solution

We have embarked on our most ambitious project yet: to use sedatives to slow a whale so that it can be safely and effectively disentangled.

Small unmanned aerial vehicles – or drones – can help us accurately estimate the weight of the animals and determine the correct dosage of sedative.

It can also help us map the entanglement, so the right cuts are made to remove the life threatening gear.