Wildlife photo-identification explained

Photo-identification is a technique used to identify and track individuals of a wild animal study population over time. It relies on capturing photographs of distinctive characteristics such as skin or pelage patterns or scars from the animal. In cetaceans, the dorsal fin area and tail flukes are commonly used.

Photo-identification is generally used as an alternative to other, invasive methods of tagging that require attaching a device to each individual. The technique enables precise counting, rather than rough estimation, of the number of animals in a population. It also allows researchers to perform longitudinal studies of individuals over many years, yielding data about the lifecycle, lifespan, migration patterns, and social relationships of the animals.

Species that are studied using photo-identification techniques include:

• Killer whales
• Humpback whales
• Whale sharks^[1]
• Manta rays^[2] - see Manta Matcher
• Octopuses (Wunderpus photogenicus)^[3]
• Salamanders^[4]
• Giraffes^[5]

See also

• Michael Bigg, who pioneered the photo-identification of killer whales

References

• Book: Obee, Bruce. Graeme Ellis . Guardians of the Whales: The Quest to Study Whales in the Wild. Elaine Jones. Whitecap Books. North Vancouver, British Columbia. 1992. 0-88240-428-8.

1. http://www.whaleshark.org/ ECOCEAN Whale Shark Photo-identification Library
2. http://www.mantas.org/ The Manta Network
3. http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/Wunderpix.html Wunderpix Photo ID project
4. Gamble . Lloyd . Ravela . Sai . McGarigal . Kevin . 2007-08-29 . Multi-scale features for identifying individuals in large biological databases: an application of pattern recognition technology to the marbled salamander Ambystoma opacum: Identifying individual marbled salamanders . Journal of Applied Ecology . en . 45 . 1 . 170–180 . 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2007.01368.x. free .
5. Lee . Derek E. . Lohay . George G. . Cavener . Douglas R. . Bond . Monica L. . 2022-09-06 . Using spot pattern recognition to examine population biology, evolutionary ecology, sociality, and movements of giraffes: a 70-year retrospective . Mammalian Biology . 102 . 4 . 1055–1071 . en . 10.1007/s42991-022-00261-3 . 252149865 . 1618-1476.

External links

Killer whale photo-identification databases

• Killer whales of southern Alaska
• Russian Orcas
  • Icelandic Orca Project
  • Norwegian Orca ID Catalogue