Tourists asked to help track whales

Published: 3:46PM Tuesday July 27, 2010 Source: AAP

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Researchers are seeking a helping hand from tourists to track whale migration along Australia's east coast.
  
Queensland's Southern Cross University says pictures taken by tourists could provide valuable new data on the timing of humpback whale migration, travel speed, histories, association patterns, and movement patterns.
  
Peta Beeman, from the university's Marine Ecology Research Centre, said the researchers want photos from Victoria to the Whitsunday Islands in north Queensland.
  
"Some of these photos can provide potentially useful scientific information. These are an untapped source of valuable data," Beeman said in a statement.
  
"These photos will be used to create a fluke (tail) catalogue that will significantly expand the range of individually identified humpback whales.
  
"The photos I am particularly interested in show the unique pigmentation pattern on the ventral surface (underside) of the tail fluke that enables individual whales to be identified."
  
The photos will be matched against those from other locations and other years.
  
Beeman said anyone who contributed would receive feedback on the individual whale, such as whether it had been seen previously.
  
A website was also being developed so people could upload their photos of tail flukes.

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