The footage was obtained using a drone, will help researchers gain a better understanding of these animals

Oct 21, 2014 09:41 GMT  ·  By

Earlier this year, in August, researchers with the Vancouver Aquarium in Canada and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration used a drone to study killer whales in the wild.

Part of the footage obtained while carrying out this research project was shared with the public not too long ago. Just scroll down to have a look at it, and get ready to enjoy a much-deserved break from your day-to-day life.

As detailed in the video's description, the drone used by this team of researchers successfully completed as many as 60 flights, during which it snapped as many as 30,000 photos of killer whales in the wild.

The photos will hopefully make it possible for scientists to determine which of the orcas in the groups that were monitored are expecting and which are losing weight because of old age or illness.

The end goal is to assess the overall health condition of northern resident killer whales, the Vancouver Aquarium and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration specialists explained.

Despite the fact that drones have been around for quite a while, it appears that the team behind this research project was the first ever to use such an unmanned aircraft to study orcas in the wild.

Explaining the decision to use a drone to complete this investigation, specialist Lance Barrett-Lennard said that it all boiled down to making sure he and his colleagues would not in any way disturb the marine mammals while studying them.

“The whales didn't react to Mobly [the drone] visibly; not only did they not appear disturbed, they didn't seem to notice him at all,” the researcher said in a statement, as cited by Science Alert.