Happywhale: The Ultimate Citizen Science Program for Whale Nerds
Ahh, the iconic tail shot, that majestic moment when a whale raises its flukes skyward before gracefully sinking beneath the waves. It’s the moment every whale photographer hopes for, and they’re not alone! When it comes to humpback whales, researchers and naturalists strive to capture that fleeting moment when the underside of the flukes are visible, exposing the markings that set each individual apart. We recently posted about the power of photo identification, using distinct characteristics on a cetacean’s body to differentiate between individuals over time. Today, we want to share how YOU can contribute to ongoing cetacean research, all you need is a camera!
Researchers Ted Cheeseman and Ken Southerland created an incredible resource for citizen scientists hoping to contribute to our knowledge of humpback whales around the world. This tool is known as Happywhale, a website where anyone with a photo of the ventral side of a humpback’s tail can upload it to be run through an algorithm that compares for matches against every ID in the Happy Whale database. Once the Happywhale team confirms a match, users are notified and that information is added to the whale’s bio. What’s more, users can choose to sign up for notifications when their favorite whales are resighted, enabling them to keep up with these whales over their lifetime. The website is easy to navigate and includes visuals of where an individual has been sighted over their lifetime, painting a story of their journey. We really cannot say enough about how incredible this program is. Not only has it taught us much about humpback whales as a species, but it has inspired citizen scientists around the world.
While Happywhale started out as a tool to learn more about humpback whales, it has since expanded to include countless marine mammal and penguin species! The power of this resource has been realized, and its continued success is dependent upon how many citizen scientists contribute their photos. This is where you come in! Next time you’re out on the water, try your hand at capturing ID shots of the marine mammals you are seeing. Keep in mind the location of an individual’s “fingerprint” differs by species, for example the ventral side of the tail is typically used to ID humpbacks but the dorsal fin and saddle patch are used for killer whales. Do you have photos from that whale watching trip you took years back? Those are useful too! The more photos that have been uploaded over time, the more robust the database has grown to be and the more precise the algorithm has become.
The Hawaiian Adventures team and our sister team at Island Adventures in Washington, make a point to upload our humpback whale ID photos to Happywhale.com. In doing so, not only are we contributing to cetacean science, but we’re also learning more about the individuals we encounter on the water, information we can then share with you! We will be highlighting some of our more memorable Happywhale discoveries from this season in the coming weeks.
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