The thermal imager actually gave whales a 'painless physical examination'
On the third Sunday of February every year,
It's a super loving festival
--World Whale Day.
Founded by the Pacific Whale Foundation in 1980,
Intended to remind us to pay attention to those 'gentle giants' in the ocean.
Recently, Gao Dezhi has had the privilege of participating in actions to protect the health of whales.
At the beginning of this year, a celebrity killer whale in a certain aquarium seemed to have lost some appetite, which made the staff very worried. Traditional oral examinations rely on visual or invasive procedures, which can easily cause discomfort and stress risks to killer whales, and may also cause unnecessary health harm to them.
In order to better take care of this killer whale, the staff of the aquarium conducted multiple investigations and chose to introduce a high-tech "oral examination" using a high-tech intelligent infrared thermal imaging device.
Under the instructions of the trainer, the killer whale actively opened its mouth wide, and the staff used a high-tech intelligent infrared thermal imaging device to continuously capture images from multiple angles. They successfully collected a thermal map of the temperature distribution on the mucosal surface and quickly identified suspicious oral problems from the thermal map. After further verification, it was confirmed that there is oral inflammation and inflamed areas in the upper jaw of the killer whale. After targeted treatment, this killer whale successfully recovered its health.
In this application practice, infrared thermal imaging technology effectively solved the problem of oral health detection for special animals such as killer whales, and the staff feedback achieved the expected effect:
01 Zero Contact Safety Detection: Based on non-contact detection methods, it avoids direct contact with the body of killer whales, reducing physical harm and psychological stress from the source
02 Efficient and convenient: Handheld thermal imaging device can quickly obtain thermal maps of oral temperature distribution without complex preparation work, saving manpower and time costs
03 Efficacy tracking: Real time evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment plans by comparing the dynamic temperature changes in the inflammatory area with heat maps, helping killer whales to quickly recover their health
Empowered by technology, adding wings to the protection and health of whales. The successful practice of infrared thermal imaging technology in the detection of killer whale oral cavity has opened up new avenues for animal health management in aquariums and provided a new approach for monitoring the health of various marine organisms.
On World Whale Day 2025 (February 16th), we call on every friend who loves nature to participate in the conservation of whales and dolphins. Starting from small things around us, reducing ocean pollution and contributing to the protection of our blue homeland.
What can infrared thermography do for whale conservation in the future?
