Diving with Whales: My Experience with Biologist Roger Payne

Thursday - March 7 2024, 10:01 UTC - 8 months ago

I became friends with biologist Roger Payne, known for his discovery of whale songs. He wished for a way to experience life as a whale does, and we used a drone to observe them in their natural habitat. The drone, Falcon, was a groundbreaking technology and provided close-up images of the whales without altering their behavior. It's a new, unobtrusive means of studying these magnificent creatures.

Years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting biologist Roger Payne at a MacArthur Foundation meeting. Payne, who sadly passed away in 2023, made a name for himself by discovering that humpback whales sing and that their songs can be heard across vast oceans. As someone with a deep fascination for the undersea world and a love for scuba diving and snorkeling, I was captivated by Payne's research on these magnificent creatures.

During our meeting, Payne expressed his interest in a technology to aid in his research on whales. While I offered to build him a robot, what he truly desired was a way to dive with the whales and experience the world as they do. I suggested a simpler solution, and thus began our journey to explore the potential of a robot in his work.

At the time, Payne had been studying whales for over 40 years. His most recent project involved a long-term study on a large group of southern right whales. These impressive mammals, measuring up to 15 meters in length, feature long, curving mouths and heads covered in growths known as callosities. Payne had established a lab on the shores of Argentina's Peninsula Valdés, an area that humans would find cold, windy, and inhospitable, but one that southern right whales are particularly drawn to. Every year in August, they gather near the coast to give birth and mate.

In 2009, Payne invited me to his lab on the Peninsula Valdés. It was an invitation I couldn't refuse. For over 40 years, Payne had been sitting atop a cliff with binoculars and pen and paper, noting the passing whales and their unique callosities. By monitoring their behavior, he hoped to conduct the first long-term census of the population and determine their approximate lifespan, which is believed to be over a century.

As we began planning our expedition, I suggested the use of a drone to observe the whales. Two of my former students, recently graduated and seeking adventure, jumped at the opportunity. We had access to a robot that only required minor adjustments to make it suitable for the task at hand. After much discussion, reengineering, and planning, we were joined by Falcon, the first eight-rotor drone capable of holding a camera between its thrusters. While today such drones can be purchased off the shelf, it was a groundbreaking technology in 2009.

The vantage point from the cliff provided a better view of the whales than being in the water with them, as the presence of divers can alter their behavior. Helicopters and planes, on the other hand, flew too high for clear images. However, the cliff faced one limitation - the whales would eventually swim away and out of view. Falcon removed this obstacle and offered close-up images of the whales. Capable of autonomous flight, the drone flew for 20 to 30 minutes before its batteries needed to be replaced. While we kept a human at the controls, Roger was enamored by this new, non-intrusive way of observing his beloved whales.