1. Australian Antarctic Data Centre
2. Discover and Manage Data
3. Records
4. AAS_4102_photoID2012

Description

A spreadsheet detailing the filenames and sighting numbers (to link to visual observations) of the best left and/or right photos of blue whales photographed and individually identified during the blue whale voyages (2) in the Bonney Upwelling, 2012. The 'best' photos are also included as jpegs.

See http://www.marinemammals.gov.au/sorp/antarctic-blue-whale-project/bonney-upwelling-acoustic-testing-expeditions
and
http://www.marinemammals.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/135617/SC-64-SH11.pdf
for further detail regarding the blue whale voyages.

Whales from Voyage 1 are numbered sequentially beginning with 001; whales from Voyage 2 are numbered sequentially beginning with 101. 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 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. 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.

The IWC Southern Ocean Research Partnership has developed guidelines to enable the photo identification of blue whales. These guidelines can be found here: http://www.marinemammals.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/141482/Blue_photoID_guide_2014.3.pdf

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 > SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING > VISIBLE WAVELENGTHS > VISIBLE IMAGERY

Use Constraints

This data was processed and analysed by Antarctic blue whale voyage collaborator/co-investigator, Paula Olson, and the photos held within the Southern Hemisphere Blue Whale Catalogue. As such, Paula's consent should be sought to use the data or images. Data associated with the 2012 Blue whale voyages 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_2012_Blue_Whale_Voyages when using these data.

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_photoID2012 when using these data.