. >> mobly was built by don leroi (le roy) at a cost of $25-thousand dollars. it may look like a hobbyist's dream project but in fact it's packed with many high-tech systems to do science. >> its called a hexicopter because it has 6 motors and 6 rotors. if it's not being told what to do, it wants to hover, it wants to be stable in the air. >> the high-definition photos taken from the eye in the sky gives scientists a better look at the overall health of the whales. >> if a female has been eating a lot and she's fat, her width relative to her length will be different than a female who hasn't eaten very much. so we can take just those two measurements and with those two we can get an index of condition... index of fatness for that female. >> perryman says this season many of the north bound, lactating, female gray whales observed, appeared more robust than in previous years. data that is important for many reasons. whale health gives scientists a snapshot of the balancing act between food sources, natural predators, even climate change. >> we're getting to the po