1. Australian Antarctic Data Centre
2. Discover and Manage Data
3. Records
4. AAS_4102_all_photo_ID_images_2012

Description

All photos taken during the two Blue whale voyages undertaken in January and March 2012 in an attempt to get a best photo identification image of pygmy blue whales.

Whales from the January voyage are numbered sequentially beginning with 1; whales from the March voyage are numbered sequentially beginning with 101. The folder contains a best left side and a best right side photo of each whale (if available). Identification photos of whales where a dorsal fin was not visible are included only if there was a dorsal fin visible in a good identification photo of the other side of the whale.

Photo filenames include the photographer’s initials:
CJ = Catriona Johnson
DD = Dave Donnelly
MD = Mike Double
JS = Josh Smith
NS = Nat Schmitt
PE = Paul Ensor
PO = Paula Olson
RS = Rob Slade
VAG = Virginia Andrews-Goff

Purpose

Individual identification allows the production of sightings histories required for a mark-recapture approach to estimating abundance. These data will also provide information on blue whale population structure and movement.
Individual blue whales are identifiable from unique patterns of mottled pigment on both sides of the body, and also from variations in dorsal fin shape and any permanent scars that may be present.

Access

These data are publicly available for download from the provided URL.

Temporal Coverages

• Start date: 2012-01-12 - Stop date: 2012-01-25
• Start date: 2012-03-13 - Stop date: 2012-03-30

Spatial Coverages

Science Keywords

• EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MAMMALS > CETACEANS
• EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > MARINE ENVIRONMENT MONITORING

Use Constraints

Please contact Paula Olson (paula.olson@noaa.gov) if you intend to use these photos to develop a scientific publication or intend to use these images in any other way. These images are also contained in the Southern Hemisphere Blue Whale Catalogue (http://bluewhalecatalogue.org).
This dataset has been collected under the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) Southern Ocean Research Partnership (SORP). The IWC-SORP ethos is one of open collaboration, communication and data sharing. The Data User will acknowledge the use of the IWC SORP dataset by the following statement:
Data provided by the International Whaling Commission’s Southern Ocean Research Partnership were all based upon non-lethal samples collected under a protocol approved by the Australian Antarctic Program Animal Ethics Committee (AAPAEC). These data were provided by the Partnership for the purpose of collaborative investigation.


This data set conforms to the CCBY Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=AAS_4102_all_photo_ID_images_2012 when using these data.