ACADEMICS from the University of York will use drones to discover more about the social lives of killer whales.
Experts from York, Exeter and the Center for Whale Research in Washington State, USA, believe drone footage could revolutionise our understanding of whale behaviour.
Only humans and some whales continue to live for many years after giving birth to their last offspring. Such research provides possible insights into the reasons behind this, and is the subject of a new BBC Radio 4 documentary.
The research team, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, has so far focused on the vital social roles post-menopausal matriarchs have in the social killer whale community.
Now, researchers want to collect new data about how whales interact. Using drones will give them a birds-eye view of social behaviour.
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