https://www.wired.com/story/snotbot/

For most of us, moments of inspiration come when we're daydreaming in the shower, or when an apple falls out of a tree and hits us on the head (or doesn't—it in fact fell near Newton). For Iain Kerr, CEO of the conservation group Ocean Alliance, inspiration comes when you're on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico, covered in whale snot.

Let me back up. Whale experts like Kerr want tissue samples to determine the health of the beasts, the problem being that it's somewhat difficult to do a biopsy on an enormous creature that only periodically comes to the surface to breathe. So Kerr uses a crossbow that fires a special arrow to extract a bit of flesh the size of your pinky fingertip.