December 15th

It’s all about whale snot today.

This picture was sent in by @MedTek, and another similar one came from Cosmic Shambles’ own @SteveTMusic.   Both show pods of whales arriving at the ocean surface, and catch the moment when they announce their presence by exhaling through their blowhole, sending a plume of mucus, gas and water whooshing into the sky.    

Whales are beautiful and impressive creatures, but they’re frustratingly elusive and that’s not just because they’re pretty rare these days. We can’t scan the seas underwater and spot whales easily (light doesn’t travel very well in the ocean), so we generally only spot them when they cross the line between air and sea. Whale-watching requires the patience of a committed lottery fan (“tomorrow will definitely be my lucky day!” ) combined with the eyesight of a hawk. But once the whales do break the surface, they immediately release the long deep breath that kept them alive on their foray into the depths. And each exhaled breath contains the biological signature of the huge creature that borrowed it from the atmosphere.

Studying whales in any detail is hard.  They don’t leave behind footprints or hair, and although you can get a lot of information from either poo or a skin sample, both require bravery and/or luck to get your blue-latex-coated scientific paws on them. The exhaled breath was rarely considered until the age of the drone came along, and then it was thrust into the spotlight very suddenly. Drones can hover above the water surface, looking straight down on the whales moving beneath the surface as they track along above them, collecting photographic information on the whale’s size and shape, and the distinctive pattern on its fluke (tail).  When the whale comes up to breathe, the drone is poised right above the blowhole, ready with sticky petri dishes to collect the airborne snot. And none of this disturbs the whale at all.

The plume is mostly air, and contains warm water vapour which condenses on contact with the cooler air in the atmosphere (just like the plume of steam from your kettle).  But it’s been trapped deep in the lungs of the whale for a long time, so it also contains mucus from the lungs and the nasal tract, and possibly other cells that have sloughed off the whale’s internal plumbing. Tucked away in all of that are hormones, DNA and bacteria. Scientists are using these to track stress levels, whether the females are pregnant, respiratory infections, and plenty of other aspects of the general health of these subsurface giants.

It’s not straightforward – you need ethical licenses, drone licenses, geographical access to the whales (which can be a long way out to sea) research permissions and more, but it’s a huge step forward in understanding the health of Earth’s whales.  And it may also provide insight into other changes in the ocean, since the whales rely absolutely on the chemical and physical structure of their watery world. 

So hooray for snot, and all the treasure trove of information it contains!

See what lies behind all the windows of the Sea Shambles Advent here.

Sea Shambles is a one night only live extravaganza celebrating the oceans. Hosted by Robin Ince and Helen Czerski with Steve Backshall, British Sea Power, Josie Long, Lemn Sissay and many others, it’s a night of science, comedy, music, lasers and more, in which we’ll be turning the Royal Albert Hall into an underwater playground, the likes of which you’ve never seen! May 17 2020. Tickets start at just £10! Book here.

Dr Helen Czerski is a physicist, first and foremost, but she’s acquired a few other labels along the way: oceanographer, presenter, author and bubble enthusiast. A regular on The Cosmic Shambles Network, she has also presented a number of acclaimed documentaries for the BBC and Fully Charged.  Recently she was awarded the prestigious William Thomson, Lord Kelvin Medal and Prize from the Institute of Physics.

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