GMGI Presents - Drones, DNA, and Ocean Health: What Whale Blow Can Teach Us
Date and Time
Tuesday Jun 16, 2026
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM EDT
Tuesday, June 16th. Doors open at 5:30p and the lecture will begin at 6p.
Location
Hammond Castle Museum, 80 Hesperus Avenue, Gloucester
Fees/Admission
free
Contact Information
Olivia Jarvis
Send Email
Description
Join GMGI in partnership with Ocean Alliance to understand more about the secrets whale blow can tell us about the ocean.
Whales are considered sentinel species — their health offers an early warning about the condition of ocean ecosystems. Yet today, one in four cetacean species is vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered.
Join Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute (GMGI) to learn about its eight-year collaboration with Ocean Alliance (OA), a Gloucester-based nonprofit pioneering drone technology for marine mammal science. Together, GMGI and OA are using whale exhalant, or blow, collected with SnotBot®, an aptly-named drone used for noninvasive sample collection, to study whale respiratory microbiomes across multiple species and oceans. This research is building the foundation needed to track changes in the health status of whales and their ocean ecosystem over time.
Printed courtesy of www.capeannchamber.com – Contact the Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce for more information.
24 Harbor Loop, Gloucester, MA 01930 – (978) 283-1601 – info@capeannchamber.com