GRoW Grantees Unite in Sustainable Efforts to Aid Ocean Research and Preservation

Ocean Alliance, founded by Dr. Roger Payne— known as the father of modern whale conservation and research—focuses more specifically on the protection of whales, while AIMM's mission is broader marine research and conservation. Both organizations, however, are dedicated to protecting all marine mammals through scientific research and education.  The teams united at Faial island in the Azores met in July to study a population of sperm whales native to that region, with Ocean Alliance traveling to Portugal with their SnotBots — a drone that significantly assists in their research methodologies.  "Thanks to the vision of Ocean Alliance and Dr. Iain Kerr, marine mammal research is changing! It is possible that we will never again have to use invasive techniques such as biopsies to collect skin or fat samples when trying to determine things like sex or if the animal is contaminated with pollutants. The SnotBot is a new methodology, which has, until this day, been tested on nine different species of cetaceans, positively evolving marine mammal research and safeguarding animal welfare," stated André Cid, Senior Researcher at AIMM.