NEW! The Humpback Citizen Science Project
SEE A WHALE, SAVE A WHALE—Be a Citizen Scientist
The Eastern Caribbean and Dutch Antilles are areas where there has been minimal research on humpback whales. The Caribbean Humpback Fluke Project, sponsored by the Eastern Caribbean Cetacean Network (ECCN), is an international project investigating movements of humpback whales between the breeding populations in the Eastern Caribbean and the North Atlantic feeding populations.
WANTED
Whale Researchers:
YOU QUALIFY!
THE HUMPBACK CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT
Compass is a female humpback first sighted off Cape Cod, MA in 1984. Since then she has given birth to nine calves. She is now a great grandmother—showcasing four generations of humpback whales!
Why is a Tail so Special?
Individual humpback whales are identified by the black andwhite patterns on the underside of their flukes (tails). When humpbacks dive, they raise their flukes above the water's surface and provide researchers the opportunity to photograph the markings on the underside. Natural markings captured on film have allowed researchers to monitor the movements, health, and behavior of individual humpbacks since this research began in the 1970's.
The Humpback Whale Catalog
Photo-identification is a technique that enables scientists to follow an individual whale anywhere it may travel throughout its life by comparing natural color patterns, fin shapes, and other distinguishing marks that appear in its photographs. The Catalogue of Humpback Flukes for the North Atlantic presently contains over 6,000 individual whales, identified by photographs of the ventral (underside) side of the fluke (tail) and/or of dorsal fin and flank. The catalogue is the result of collaboration between scientists, naturalists and tourists who have contributed photographs of humpbacks from regions including Canada, Norway, Iceland, Greenland and United States and many sectors of the Caribbean.
How It Works—It’s a Matching Game
The photos in the left column show 4 different flukes. Note the tremendous variation in the patterns. The page on the right shows the same fluke photographs taken at a different angle. Can you see the matches?
SEE A WHALE, SAVE A WHALE—Be a Citizen Scientist
The Eastern Caribbean and Dutch Antilles are areas where there has been minimal research on humpback whales. The Caribbean Humpback Fluke Project, sponsored by the Eastern Caribbean Cetacean Network (ECCN), is an international project investigating movements of humpback whales between the breeding populations in the Eastern Caribbean and the North Atlantic feeding populations.
Contact ECCN about your whale tail photos at nathalie@eccnwhale.org or go to contact us
