Australian researchers want tourists to send in photos of flukes so they can track eastern humpback whale movements

Been whale watching lately? Scientists want your snaps to tell migration story

If you’ve been whale watching on the east coast of Australia then scientists are after your snaps of whale tails.



Since eastern humpback whales were almost wiped out by whaling in the 1960s the population has recovered to an annual east coast migration of an estimated 20,000 individuals.

Scientists are studying the migration to better understand the recovering population. Peta Beeman, a researcher from Southern Cross University, is turning to citizen science to help gather data.

“I’m looking at the timing and travel speeds of the whales,” she said. “To do that, instead of focusing on one particular area I’m trying to cover the whole east coast by using photos taken by people on whale watching boats.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Southern Cross University researchers can identify whales based on a clear photo of their fluke, with the help of software. Photograph: Peta Beeman

After receiving photos of a whale’s fluke region (the end of the tail) Beeman runs the image through pattern recognition software that identifies similar individuals based on pigmentation patterns and other marks, such as bite marks and scars. The final whale match is made by hand from the list of similar whale flukes generated by the program.

“So if someone photographed a whale on the Gold Coast, and then someone else photographed it down at Port Stephens, that’d be fantastic because then I can get a sense of the timing of the migration, where it is going, and consistency of timing from year to year,” she said.

Beeman said there was still a lot not known about eastern humpbacks and their migrations.

“It’s different ocean than it was in the 60s – there’s a lot of vessel traffic, fishing activity,” she said. “What I’m seeing in all my photos is quite a lot of the whales have had encounters with propellers, they have a lot of scars and wounds on them, and also a large number have been entangled in fishing gear. They’ve got scarring from entanglement with heavy ropes and such.”

The use of pattern recognition algorithms to identify animals has previously been used for whale sharks, polar bears, and sea lions. Visual methods like these are easier than using microchips or other tagging techniques.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest An example of a good whale fluke photograph. Photograph: Peta Beeman

Those considering sending in a photo can read the guide on what makes a good fluke photo here and can submit photos to the project here or here. People piloting boats near whales need to ensure they maintain the regulation distance from the animal.