International whale and dolphin project
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The International Whale and Dolphin Project is a non government whale and dolphin organisation based in Nottingham in the UK and Sydney Australia. The aim is to raise awareness for whales dolphins and their environment through educational, public awarenes projects and carefully selected campaigns. Currently their main focus is humpback whales along the East Coast of Australia. This group known as area V humpbacks, so named by the whalers according to what part of Antarctica they migrated to travel up the East Australian coast to mate and calve in the warm Australian tropical waters. Some of the group, also travel up the New Zealand Coast and to Tonga. The humpbacks are known to have calves around the Great Barrier Reef in Quennsland, the most norntherly part of their migration. On their Southern migration part of the group of whales stop in the Northern part of Hervey Bay from 2 to 28 days; especially the mothers and the calves, who use this area as a nursery area. Early research thought that the whales were in fact trapped in the Bay as it is funnel shaped. Over the last 15 years it has been seen that the whales consciously visit the Bay and different parts of the group actually use different parts of the Bay. For example mothers and claves are regualarly seen in an area towards the North locally known as "The Pocket" wehere the water is shallow and well protected. In this area mothers are regularly observed teaching their claves behavious which will help them on their Southern migration to Antactica.
Over the past 6 years volunteers from the project have been photographing the humpbacks and have been cataloguing the underside of the tails (flukes). These tail patterns are as unique as finger prints on a human. These photographs along with photography of the whales' dorsal fins are being developed in to a database that within the next few months will be able on the internet.
The aim of the project is to encourage people who go whale watching to get involved and use the database to try and identify whales that they have spotted and to submit photography of tails which they take, photography should be submitted by email as high resolution images to research@whaleanddolphinproject.org The website will also contain useful information this group of whales.
The researchers have also undertaken random photo identification at Eden in New South Wales where it is know to be the most northerly place where humpback whales feed.
The International Whale and Dolphin Project are also looking at other projects including a bottlenose dolphin project in the Moray Firth in Scotland.
Further details on their work can be obtained by emailing them at research@whaleanddolphinproject.org
