SFA’s Latest Off-Campus Project Involves Drones and Dolphins in Galveston

SFA has been doing a lot of awesome things lately - new buildings being constructed on campus, new colleges and programs being added, etc. However, they're also doing really cool things off campus as well. One of those things involves doing research on dolphins using drones.

SFA Students Study Dolphins in Galveston Using PHASM Platform

There is a group of SFA Biology students, in a partnership with Oklahoma State University and an organization called Dolphin Quest, that have been studying dolphins in Galveston using what is called the PHASM platform. According to the SFA press release from July 23rd, PHASM stands for Passive Health Assessment in Sea Mammals. It's a piloted drone that they use to fly over dolphins and vacuum up breath samples from their blowholes when they come to the surface to breathe. Yes, they literally suck the snot right out of the air.

Don't believe me? Check out the video:

So basically, from the samples they get with the drones, they can study all different aspects of the dolphins, from health to genetics and more. According to the same press release mentioned above, this process can also, "help illuminate issues affecting human health where water resources are shared between people and dolphins."

Another cool aspect of this is that it's not an invasive process. They literally fly the drones over the dolphins and collect samples from the dolphins doing what they do naturally. No one has to physically touch the animals or get them out of their habitat or anything. They can do all the research remotely, without bothering the natural order of things.

READ MORE: SFA Culinary Students Gain Recognition Across the Nation

So, yes, it's kind of a gross thing to think that these students are studying snot. But the things that could be learned from it - and the process of making that research happen - are really cool. And the SFA Lumberjacks are right there at the forefront of it!