Portfolio & Tools
Whales & Climate Data Portal
Explore our dataset on whale sightings, ocean processes, biogeochemistry and climate since 2018
Whale sighting data animation east coast Australia
An overview of all whale sighting data between 2009-2024 from public sources, citizen science and scientific surveys condensed in time for each month of the year. It allows a simulation of the seasonal migration pattern of humpback whales along the east coast of Australia. Showing many sightings of humpback whales during June, July and August in the Great Barrier Reef. The recognised breeding ground and high number of sightings in NSW and Tasmania during September and October. The summarised data is only a snapshot but shows the importance of ongoing monitoring.
Humpback Whale SOWER Data and Sea Ice
This repository contains code to investigate the distribution of humpback whales in relation to sea ice variability in the Southern Ocean. The analysis integrates whale sightings from the International Decade of Cetacean Research, Southern Ocean Whale and Ecosystem Research Programme (IDCR/SOWER) dataset with sea ice concentration (SIC) data obtained from satellite observations. The IDCR/SOWER dataset is the sole cetacean long-term dataset containing in-depth information about the past status of all Southern Ocean baleen whales. This work aims at highlighting the full potential of this dataset through a preliminary investigation of humpback whales’ occurrence in relation to environmental data, particurlaly sea ice extent.
Whale Research App Behayve
Our partner Living Ocean’s humpback research focuses on the behaviour of large numbers of whales in a limited geographic area and developed a specialised software to facilitate data recording. Bill Fulton, who leads Living Ocean’s Centre for Marine Studies, has developed Behayve, a unique smartphone app that non- invasively tracks whales, records their behaviour and, using a wireless link to ship’s instruments, captures the environmental conditions they experience. The app is configurable for scientific studies on a wide range of terrestrial and marine animals.