page_title: History of wildlife tracking technology
section_title: Photo-identification
hierarchical_section_title: History of wildlife tracking technology / 1970s / Photo-identification
caption_attribution_description: English: Researchers use variation on humpback whale flukes to identify and track whales.
context_page_description: The history of wildlife tracking technology involves the evolution of technologies that have been used to monitor, track, and locate many different types of wildlife. Many individuals have an interest in tracking wildlife, including biologists, scientific researchers, and conservationists. Biotelemetry is "the instrumental technique for gaining and transmitting information from a living organism and its environment to a remote observer".
context_section_description: MARKResearchers and whale watchers that observed humpback whales realized that each individual humpback whale has unique pigmentation and scarring patterns on their tail flukes. Beginning in the 1970s, researchers began to recognize individual whales based on their tail flukes using photo-identification. Since then, photo-identification has been used to study many marine species in order to determine aspects of their biology, ecology, and behaviour. Rather than spend time compiling and analyzing the numerous photographs, computer programs have been created to help researchers identify individuals and resighting events using existing photo-identification catalogues. One such program, Fluke Matcher, reconciles the many thousands of photographs of humpback whales by using several different features of the fluke such as size, shape, black and white pigment distribution, and other distinctive features. By relying on many criteria, Fluke Matcher can identify individual whales from poorer quality or incomplete photographs. Regular "citizen scientists" and whale watchers can upload their own photographs to these computer programs, helping scientists determine if an individual matches another from the database.
caption: Researchers use variation on humpback whale flukes to identify and track whales.
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