NESP MaC Project 1.22 collated over 2,000 images of southern right whales collected opportunistically by researchers, citizen scientists, and whale watch operators. The Australian Ocean Data Network hosts this photo-identification dataset covering the southwest corner of Australia from 1991 to 2021. The project aimed to evaluate abundance, residency, site fidelity, and connectivity to update national conservation plans.
Use Cases
- Estimate population abundance based on photo-identified individual whales.
- Analyze site fidelity and residency patterns based on repeated sightings over three decades.
- Update Biologically Important Area classifications based on evidence of expanding aggregation areas.
- Study long-term recovery of a species from near extinction based on a 30-year observation period.
Strengths
- Over 2,000 images provide a substantial visual record.
- Data spans a 30-year period from 1991 to 2021, enabling longitudinal study.
- Images were contributed by multiple sources, including researchers, citizen scientists, and commercial operators.
Limitations
- Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing on southwest Australia.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Opportunistic collection and collation of images by researchers, volunteer citizen scientists, and whale watch operators.
- Time Range
- 1991 to 2021
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-06-16 21:27:29.451377; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Southwest corner of Australia