Whale Photo-Identification By: Amber Sheridan

When It all Began… Whale photo-identification studies first began in the 1960s and 1970s. Black and white film. Evaluated negatives by magnifying them with microscopes. Matched them up. Helped to distinguish different individuals in a species.

What is Whale Photo-Identification? Photo Identification is a primary method for studying whales. “By photographing unique physical characteristics of the whale, such as dorsal fin shape and body coloration patterns, researchers are able to tell individuals apart within a population of a particular species.”(about.com)

What can it do for us? Once a sighting record is established for an individual whale, researchers can study their movements, feeding patterns, migration, life span, age of maturity along with population estimates

How they get their names…

Humpback Whales Diving without Fluking Photograph underwater lateral pigmentation shots. Distinct patterns

Bottle- Nose Dolphin

Bottlenose Dolphin

Whale Shark

                                              Whale Shark

No Fluke? ~Silver~ *Venus*

Work Cited www.utilawhalesharkresearch.com/faq.jsp http://www.whaleshark.org/ www.afsc.noaa.gov/nmml/pdf/NMMLDigitalPhotoProtocol.pdf www.whaleresearch.org/humpback_researchmethods.htm marinelife.about.com/od/watchingandphotography/a/photoid.htm www.ncmaritime.org/Fin-board/photo-id.html www.johnrgentile.com/dolphins.htm