Waters around the San Juan Islands, lying between Washington and Vancouver, are home to critically endangered southern orca whales. Now numbering only 74 animals, efforts to monitor their health are more crucial than ever.

Previous methods — like shooting barbed biopsy darts into the whale’s large dorsal fin — sometimes resulted in nonhealing wounds and infections. Less invasive methods relied on nearby boats that were stressful to the whales.

More recent protocols have focused on efficiency without the stress. Scent-detection dogs find whale droppings that contain a wealth of biologic information. In addition, drones have been developed to hover over the whales’ blowholes and collect breath samples. Fortunately, the whales don’t mind the drones, which are key to collecting data, too.