Type-D Killer Whale Photo-Identification Catalogue for Depredating Individuals, 2003-2024

A 21-year photo-identification catalogue from 2003 to 2024 documents individual type-D killer whales involved in depredation on Patagonian toothfish longlines. Created by Paul Tixier, it includes images and associated data for whales around the Crozet, Kerguelen, Marion/Prince Edward Islands, and southern Chile. The catalogue provides high-quality photographs of dorsal fins, saddle patches, and eye patches, alongside sex, maternal relationships, and birth year information.

Use Cases

• Tracking individual whale movements and site fidelity based on photo-identification across multiple regions.
• Studying social unit structure and maternal relationships based on the documented associations and unit designations.
• Analyzing depredation behavior patterns over time based on the long-term observation period.
• Conducting population estimates and demographic studies based on individual sex and age class information.

Strengths

• Covers a 21-year time span from 2003 to 2024.
• Includes high-quality photographs of key identification features (dorsal fin, saddle patch, eye patches).
• Documents individuals across multiple geographic regions in the Subantarctic and southeastern Pacific.

Limitations

• Data is provided as a 44.5 MB PDF, which may require manual extraction for computational analysis.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred from the PDF layout.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for statistical modeling.

Provenance

Source

Paul Tixier via figshare.

Collection Method

Photo-identification from field observations.

Time Range

2003 to 2024

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-31 14:50:10; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Crozet and Kerguelen Islands (French Subantarctic), Marion/Prince Edward Islands (South African Subantarctic), southern Chile.