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Content:
Bill Lang
Pagemasters:
OEMM Web Team
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SWSS Chronicles
Special Reports from the SWSS Scientists |
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Chronicle
8 - June 22, 2005
Carol Roden
Protected Species Biologist & Photo Identification Team Biological
Sciences Section
Gulf of Mexico Region
Minerals Management Service
New Orleans, Louisiana
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Figure 1
Figure 2 |
By photographing (Figure 1) the
"fluke" or tail of the sperm whale as it begins a dive (Figure 2),
biologists are able to positively identify individual sperm whales.
The fluke of a whale can be thought of as it's fingerprint, each
containing scars, nicks, holes and other identifying features. After
the tagging boat places a satellite tag on a sperm whale, the
photo-identification boat follows the whale until it "flukes up", or
dives. Fluke photos are incorporated into the existing Gulf of
Mexico sperm whale catalog, which has fluke photos of more than 200
individual animals. Fluke photographs from sperm whales in the Gulf
of Mexico have been compared to those collected in other areas
(Atlantic and Mediterranean) and no matches have been found,
suggesting few movements between the Gulf of Mexico and the
Atlantic. |
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While waiting for a tag to be deployed
on a sperm whale, scientists are able to observe other life in the
Gulf. Creatures big and small abound. A small triggerfish (Figure
3) floats with a raft of sargassum... |
Figure 3 |
Figure 4 |
...while later in the
day a large whale shark swims with a school of Bonita (Figure 4).
The sperm whale seismic study provides endless opportunities to
observe the diversity of life in the Gulf. |
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