The one-metre-long remote-controlled chopper allows Dr Acevedo-Whitehouse's team to take a sample without the whales being disturbed.

BBC: How do you breathalyse a whale?

From the flurry of factoids, the avalanche of attitude, and the vague, urgent promises, voters got to sample at least three hallmarks of American life that ought to leave us more disturbed than we were just yesterday.

FORBES: Romney vs. Obama: The Matchup America Deserves