HE BOAT IS on the move. It speeds over icy waters toward a humpback whale. Holly Fearnbach, John Durban, and Lance Barrett-Lennard are on board. They’re whale scientists on a mission. They’re about to use a hexacopter—a remote-controlled drone with six propellers—to collect some whale snot.
Whales are mammals. They have lungs and cannot breathe underwater. Whales hold their breath when underwater, then rise to the surface to breathe, using their blowholes kind of like how humans use their two nostrils. What you see spurting out from a whale’s blowhole isn’t a plume of water—it’s actually condensed whale breath! As the whale exhales, its breath comes out warm and mixed with droplets of snot. The warm air from the whale’s lungs condenses the cold air and forms a misty, snot-filled…
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Spider Magazine Stories, Games, Activites And Puzzles For Children And Kids (Digital) - 1 Issue, February 2021