Ocean Alliance
About the project:
SnotBot, launched by Ocean Alliance, has taken the crown in the 'Conservation and Environment' category due to its incredible work studying whales in a non-invasive way. These mammals are notoriously hard to gather data from - until SnotBot. The modified consumer drone flies through the blow of a whale and collects exhaled breath condensate, or ‘snot’, on Petri dishes, providing biological information on the health and ecology of the whales. SnotBot, and its parent program, Drones for Whale Research (DFWR), have helped transform whale science.
What Airwards Judges said:
A truly amazing project which continues to be a game-changer. This is an extremely novel use of drones as the solution to a problematic wildlife data capture conundrum. A simple modification to a standard commercial drone has revolutionised our global understanding of whales, their health and habitat. This is an exciting approach to collecting whale data safely and more effectively, eliminating the human interaction and stress of these animals as they are studied. The continued innovation of this multi-faceted, drone-for-good alliance ensures a legacy for this important work. Ultimately this project showcases what creativity, technology and a solid approach can achieve.
