Hello, I am currently volunteering with an association which studies fin whales in the western Mediterranean sea. Specifically, we are willing to collect fin whale's faeces to perform genetic and hormonal analyses. The faeces are a loose aggregation of particles that get attached to the holes of the net and contaminate future samples if we use it more than once (it is almost impossible to clean!). We thought of creating some sort of device that allows us to change the net everytime we collect faeces.
Does anybody know a way to avoid the faeces getting stuck on the net or have created a new one ("home-made" net) to collect faeces? Thank you! :)
Suggest you contact Dr. Kathleen Hunt ([email protected]) at the new england aquarium...she has done much of this sort of sampling.
Try adding one or two layers of coffee filters in your hand-held net (assuming that is what you use to scoop the whale poop). You then take the filters with the faeces out and add new layers for the next sampling. Try it out first with a VERY ripe tomato that you squeeze in a bath tub, to mimic the whale poop floating in the sea...
We have already thought about that. We'll try, as you said, with a very ripe tomato to test it. Thank you for the idea! :)
I'm not sure of the consistency of the fecal material you are scooping or how fine you want/need the mesh of your net. We use pool cleaning nets on long poles (coarser mesh than a plankton net) for killer whale fecal samples. We use these samples for genetic, hormone, and prey analyses. We are able to rinse the net out sufficiently for additional samples. Maybe try a different net if you are able to increase your mesh size?
I might try using a bigger mesh with filter paper. Fin whale's faeces can be really liquid sometimes. That could work!
Thank you very much, I really appreciate every answer!
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Social Psychology
- Attitude