WILD BLUE Photo ID of Sri Lankan Blue Whales

Vs 2015.04.05

Project Coordinators: Georgina Gemmell, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, Chitral Jayatilake

WILD BLUE The Sri Lankan Blue Whale Photo ID Project unravelling the secrets of the Blues of the Northern Indian Ocean Project Coordinators: Georgina Gemmell, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, Chitral Jayatilake

Technical Advisors Michael Fishbach Dr Charles Anderson

Project Sponsors John Keells Hotels & Nature Trails

WILD BLUE unravelling the secrets of the Blues of the Northern Indian Ocean We still don’t know very much about the largest animal the planet has seen in its 3.5 billion years. •Some believe that they migrate between the Arabian Sea (Charles Anderson hypothesis publicised by Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne) and the Bay of Bengal. But other theories have been out forward. •Where do they come from, where do they go to? •Do some migrate, do some reside around Sri Lanka all year? •Do some alternate feeding strategies between migrating and being resident around the island?

•Do the residents change sides on the island? •Where do they give birth? How many survive to adulthood? •How long do they live? Photographic Identification with your help will help to find answers to some of these questions.

Contents Part 1: Information for Contributors Part 2: More information on the Blue Whale Catalogue

Part 3: Background Information

Part 1: Information for Contributors Points covered in this section Sri Lanka’s Blue Whales: Key Facts About Photo ID Applying Photo ID to Blue Whales Applying Photo ID to Sri Lanka’s Blue Whales The different types of Tail-shots that will be used for ID How the Whales will be catalogued Early Success: Whale re-sightings Submission of Fluke Photographs

Sri Lanka’s Blue Whales Best for Blue Sri Lanka is The Best for Blue Whale in the World (de Silva

Wijeyeratne, G. May 2008) Subspecies The subspecies of Blue Whale encountered in the seas off Sri Lanka is, B. m. indica.

Where Sri Lanka’s Blue Whales can be encountered off the coast of Mirissa in the South, Trincomalee in the North-east and more rarely in Kalpitiya in the North-west.

Movements The ‘migrant’ whales pass Sri Lanka when undergoing an East-West movement between the Arabian Sea (towards the Horn of Africa) and the Bay of Bengal. (A hypothesis by Dr. Charles Anderson). They can be seen off Mirissa from NovemberApril and Trincomalee, March to April.

Resident Whales: There are believed to be a non migratory population of Blue Whales, termed ‘residents’ who may alternate between the East and West coasts. It is not known if some whales are residents in some years and migratory in others. The population of Blue Whales off the coast of Trincomalee, which can be seen from May-September are considered to be ‘residents’.

Photographic Identification (Photo ID)

What is Photographic Identification or Photo ID? To track the movements and to understand the social structure of animals, it helps to be able to identify them as individuals. Radio collaring animals is one way. Identifying them as individuals using photographic identification is another. This allows them to be tracked for longer periods than radio collaring which is subject to battery life and can create stress arising from capture. With whales as ‘collars’ cannot be put on, ‘tags’ have to be fitted.

Photographic identification requires animals to have distinctive features (stripes or patterns or physical marks or deformities) on the body which allows them to be identified uniquely as an individual.

More about Photo ID Photographic ID (or Photo ID) is a form of passive research that allows non intrusive data collection using a ‘Mark-recapture’ method.

What species can it be applied to. Any species where individuals display characteristics (whether patterning, scars, colouration etc) that are unique enough to differentiate an animal from its co specifics (other individuals of the same species), but it is most famously used in the field of Cetology (Study of cetaceans) How does it work By taking a photograph of an individual’s identifying features, it allows researchers to have an ID record for that animal. When new photos are taken in the field, researchers can cross reference the new images against a catalogue of already identified animals and potentially match the individual. What can be learnt: The great thing about photo ID is it is non invasive. It is simple, inexpensive and can have many data contributors (encouraging a community based effort). The longevity of this method far surpasses others, given time, the catalogue could hold 100’s of individuals of whom the researchers will have learned a considerable amount of information. …And what could it reveal. Given time, photo ID could potentially reveal age estimates, sexes, feeding behaviours, movements, births, deaths, threats and most importantly- population estimates.

Applying Photo ID to Blue Whales There are many key features from which to identify a Blue Whale. A Blue Whale’s grey, mottled patterning differs, like a fingerprint, with each individual, remaining unchanged as the whale matures. The key areas from which to ID a Blue Whale are as follows. 1. The Dorsal Fin Area The area around the whale’s fin on its back, including the fin itself. 2. The Tail 3. And the Tail Stock The ‘trunk’ or ‘stalk’ of the whale’s tail.

How Photo ID for Sri Lanka’s Blue Whales is different Most Blue Whale photo ID studies have studied populations in the North Atlantic, Antarctic and most notably, the Pacific.

These whales do not fluke-up (lift tail up when diving) often. So Photo ID has been based on mottling patterns around the dorsal areas, which is tricky. Sri Lanka’s Blue Whales tend to fluke-up around 90% of the time, when going for a deep dive. This allows any photographer to take photographs which are of use for photo ID. It is for this reason that Sri Lanka’s ID project will focus on the;

Tail of the Whale ....... to unravel the secrets of the Blues.

The different types of Tail Shots that will be used for ID There will be 2 key type of tail shots used for identification purposes. 1)Tail Underside This is the most ideal shot for ID. This is when a photo is taken as the whale raises its tail straight into the air, displaying the full underside of the tail-fins before diving.

The different types of Tail Shots that will be used for ID

2)Tail Upperside This is a shot of the upperside, or topside of the whale’s tail. It is useful as it can be achieved in two ways. The first way is when the whale is facing in the direction of the boat, therefore when it flukes-up (lifts its tail). The second way is when the whale is angled away from the boat, lifting its tail fins out of the water, first displaying the front (which drapes downwards) before lifting them high up in the air, eventually also showing the under side too. When the upper side of the tail is shot in this way, it is particularly useful as it will allow us to have both an upper and under side shot of that whale’s tail…providing us with more identifying features for that individual. Note: In some cases, whales exhibiting large nicks, tears or notches can be identified by using the trailing edge (tail outline) alone, which is visible on both the upper and underside of the tail.

The different types of Tail Photos that will be used for ID

3)The Tail-side-view (Tail Stock) This is a photo of the whale’s tail from the side, including a portion of its tail stock (the trunk of the tail) as it goes to dive.

Why take the Side view: In some side view images, it may be possible to gain some information regarding the tail fin markings, trailing edge or notches, when the whale lifts its tail high…therefore allowing an ID to be made. The tail stock itself could be a key identifying feature, while the mottling pattern is unique, it presents the same problem as the ‘dorsal shot’, often needing to capture both sides. (Not possible on most whale watching trips). Instead, the identifying feature could be a series of nicks, notches or even chunks missing from the whale’s caudal (spinal) line.

The Whale coding system Using example of already catalogued individuals

Each whale is assigned an alphanumerical code (Individual Number) beginning ‘SLB’ (for Sri Lanka Blue) then an additional letter denoting the area they were first sighted: (T=Trinco, M=Mirissa, K=Kalpitiya or O=Other). SLBM004 – (NotchFluke)

Following the letters will be a number correlating the order the individual joined the catalogue. E.g. (SLBM001)  In addition to the official code, each individual is assigned a common name. This name will offer a quick description of the whale’s features, as well as provide a catchy nickname to help generate awareness with tourists and locals through personifying the whales. Each catalogue image will include the following info in the file name (Number_WhaleName_ShotType_Photographer_YYYY. MM.DD_

SLBM001 – (CookieCutter)

Original image number) (SLBM001_CookieCutter_TUN_GemmellG_2013.01. 25_DSC025)

How the whales will be catalogued Each Whale will be catalogued according to the type of photos available for ID. There will be 3 folders, one for each Tail Photo Type.

Tail Underside (TUN), Tail Upperside (TUP) and Tail-side-view (Tail stock) (TSV)

Inside each folder (with additional subfolders of left and right for the Tail-side-view) will be ‘Feature Folders’. These will be the following Nicked – A very small chunk, nicked out of the flesh or trailing edge (tail outline) Notched – This denotes a small - medium chunk missing from the flesh or trailing edge Chunk Missing – Where a large portion of flesh or tail is clearly missing. Patterned- This denotes the sometimes light coloured dashes, or patches of lighter pigment on the whale’s tail Spotted – This includes clear round spots, or Cookie Cutter injuries (pink fleshy potholes) Angled- When the tip of the tail-fins (flukes) appear to have a blunt edge suitable for identifying Clean- Whales who have a clear smooth tail

How the whales will be catalogued In order to lessen the time spent on the matching/comparing process, any individual who exhibits more than one ‘characteristic feature’ will be repeated in each category. In some cases, whales may fit multiple categories, with features visible in some shots but not in others. A multiple category whale example seen below. Light pigment pattern

Small nick

Big notch just before the flukes

SLBM001 would be repeated in the following ‘feature’ folders found in ‘Tail Underside’ –Because this is a shot of the underside of the tail Spotted, Nicked, Notched and Patterned

Spots as well as potholes likely caused by cookie cutter shark.

Early Success: Re-sightings and matches

Already, since February 2013, Wild Blue has produced some interesting results in the form of individual matches. The ID catalogue currently holds 81 individual blue whales, with 6 of those individuals having been re-sighted, the details of which are presented on the following pages.

Re-sightings match for SLBM013 - WhiteFlash Date first sighted: 2013.01.25 Sighted by: Georgie Gemmell Location: Mirissa N5 47 204 E80 26 646 Re-sightings: 2013.01.26 Re-sighted by: Georgie Gemmell Location: Mirissa N545 346 E80 27 506

© Georgie Gemmell (2013) © Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne (03.04 2008)

© Georgie Gemmell (2013) © Vathsala Karunanayake (18.04 2013)

Re-sightings match for SLBM027 - WhiteStripes Date first sighted: 2011.02.21 Sighted by: Peter Smart Location: Mirissa Re-sightings: 2012.01.17 Re-sighted by: Nilantha Kodithuwakku © Peter Smart (2011)

Location: Mirissa

© Nilantha Kodithuwakku (2012) © Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne (03.04 2008)

© Nilantha Kodithuwakku (2012)

Re-sightings match for SLBM034 - Crescent Date first sighted: 2013.02.06 Sighted by: Georgie Gemmell Location: Mirissa Re-sightings (1): 2013.02.08 Re-sighted by: Chris Hill © Peter Smart (2011)

Location: Mirissa Re-sightings(2): 2013.02.19 Location: Mirissa Re-sighted by: Iris Lui

© Chris Hill © Nilantha Kodithuwakku (2012) © Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne (03.04 2008)

© Nilantha Kodithuwakku (2012)

Re-sightings match for SLBM035 – Little ‘V’ Date first sighted: 2013.01.26 Sighted by: Georgie Gemmell Location: Mirissa N5 48 677 E80 26 689 Re-sightings: 2011.02.15 Re-sighted by: Georgie Gemmell © Sampath Gunasinghe © Georgie Gemmell

Location: Mirissa N 5 45 225 E80 26 490

© Georgie Gemmell

Re-sightings match for SLBM037 - Terri Date first sighted: 2009.02.10 (Feb) Sighted by: Jon Facey Location: Mirissa Re-sightings (2): (All in February)

Sampath © Gunasinghe Peter Smart © Michael Bamford© 2011

2011.02.16 in Mirissa by Michael Bamford 2014.02.13 in Mirissa by Raja Rendage

© Raja Rendage (2014)

©Jon Facey (2009)

Re-sightings match for SLBM044 - DeepWaves Date first sighted: 2008.04.03 (April) Sighted by: Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne Location: Mirissa Re-sightings: (2) 2013.04.18 in Mirissa by Vathsala Karunanayke © Sampath © Gunasinghe Peter Smart

2015.01.10 in Mirissa by Mirissa Water Sports

Re-sightings match for SLBM044 - DeepWaves Date first sighted: 2013.11.25 Sighted by: Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne Location: Mirissa Re-sightings: 2015.01.10 in Mirissa by Mirissa Water Sports ©©Andrew Sampath ©Webb Gunasinghe Peter(2013) Smart

© Mirissa Water Sports (2015)

The Catalogue on Flickr The image catalogue is also on flickr. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/sri_lanka_blue_whale_id/sets/

Building the Catalogue This image catalogue represents the first public science photo ID catalogue in Sri Lanka. Its early days. But with your photographs, we can build this into an important scientific tool.

Cataloguing of Photographs

Any images used in the catalogue will be accredited to the photographer and their name included in the file name.

The above image taken by Sampath Gunatilleke for example is catalogued as follows. SLBM012_TornTail_TUP_SampathG_2013 Jan 30_DSC_1136

Submission of Photographs

We need your images please. Please send your images to [email protected]

Please tell us your name, the date and location. If you have GPS coordinates and any other comments you wish to include …that would be even better.

Responsible Photography and Observation of Whales Last but not least, always adhere to good whale watching conduct when observing blue whales or any other marine mammal. Please do not cause stress to the whales by encouraging the boat crews to approach the whales from behind to take photographs of them lifting their tail as they dive. The correct way to whale watch is to keep a distance comfortable to the whale (around 100m) and be parallel to it. Whales are used to boats and will often approach them, at times turning towards or away from a boat before fluking (lifting tail to dive). This provides an opportunity for photographing the tail.

Always remember to have your engine in neutral once you have obtained the correct position to observe the whale. Whales are acoustic mammals and so the noise of a running boat engine may disturb or even stress them. Blues Whales that are a few hundred meters away, photographed with a telephoto lens on a modern digital SLR camera may hold enough detail in a tail-shot image to be used for photo ID. So remember you don't need to get very close to a whale for photo ID. Photo ID was created with the purpose of studying whales without disturbing them…lets keep it that way.

Part 2: More information on the Blue Whale Catalogue (BWC) Project In this section we provide information on some of the more detailed data we will be keeping in addition to the photo cataloguing of images received from whale watchers.

Points covered in this section Recording the whales in the catalogue Recording Sighting Details and Matches

The HR Files

Recording The Whales in The Catalogue In addition to the catalogue itself, there will also be a corresponding Spreadsheet, detailing the whales in the catalogue. Example of format seen below, using dummy data

(Individual Number, Name, ID Shots available, Date and Location of first sighting (GPS if available) Individual Number

Whale Name

Photos

Date First Recorded

Location

GPS

SLBM001

CookieCutter

TUN TUP

2013 Jan 25

Mirissa

N 05 46.790 E 80 26.561

SLBM002

TopSpot

TUN TUP

2013 Jan 26

Mirissa

N 05 45.838 E 80 27.609

SLBM003

TopCookie

TUP

2013 Jan 26

Mirissa

N 05 45.694 E 80 27.632

SLBM004

NotchFluke

TUN

2013 Jan 26

Kalpitya

N/a

SLBM005

CenterHole

TUP

2010 April 16

Trinco

N/a

SLBM006

MissingPoint

TUN

2010 Dec 24

Mirissa

N 05 45.465 E 80 28.453

SLBM007

LeftSpot

TUN

2012 April 08

Mirissa

N/a

Recording Sighting Details and Matches Collecting detailed sighting data will for logistics reasons be from a few individuals, who are likely to be participating hotel naturalists that accompany guests on Whale Watching trips or marine biologists. Each sighting will be recorded in a ‘Sightings details’ spreadsheet, recording the following (An example provided below using dummy data) • Date (YYYY.MM.DD) • Time (start/end) • Location (GPS if available), • Number of animals at sighting • Whether a match was made (Y/N), The Whale’s Individual Number and sighting comments.

Date

Time Start

Time end approx

Location

GPS

N.o of Animals

Photo range

Match Made

Individual Number

2013 Jan 25

09:39

09:42

M

N 05 47.346 E 80 26.692

1

483-486

Y

SLBM001

2013 Jan 25

09:49

10:30

M

N 05 46.790 E 80 26.561

1

487 -542

N

2013 Jan 25

10:33

10:38

M

N 05 47.391 E 80 26.534

1

543-570

Y

2013 Jan 26

09:54

09:55

M

N 05 45.861 E 80 27.630

1

610-614

N

2013 Jan 26

09:57

10:02

M

N 05 45.667 E 80 27.624

1

615-624

Y

2013 Jan 26

10:05

10:14

M

N 05 45.498 E 80 27.554

1

624-672

N

2013 Jan 26

10:34

10:35

M

N 05 45.231 E 80 27.061

1

678-693

Y

SLBM010

2013 Jan 27

10:46

10:48

T

N 05 44.930 E 80 26.566

1

698-711

Y

SLBT008

2013 Jan 27

10:49

10:51

T

N 05 45.105 E 80 26.463

1

712-770

N

SLBM004

SLBM002

2.1 The HR Files Each individual identified will have an individual ‘HR File’ which describes how to identify it. This will be in the form of a Power Point with each whale having one or two slides.

We call it a HR File rather than an ID Card to remind everyone that these are sentient beings.

Each whale will also have a map showing where it has been recorded. The mapping is a huge task in itself and will be done periodically, but data will be captured in Excel to make it easy to capture on GIS software in the future.

A few example slides follow this page.

SLBM001 - CookieCutter Date First Sighted: 2013.01.25 Location: Mirissa GPS: N 05 46.790, E 80 26.561

Sighted by: Georgie Gemmell

Re-sightings to date: N/a

Location of Resighting: N/a

Photos for ID: TUN, TUP

Description Tail-Underside: Very distinct mottling patterns, and pink fleshy cookie cutter injury to inside of right tail-fin. Four medium sized pit scars (or ‘dimples’) in a circular shape at base. Several small nicks at base of tail and one deeper notch. A small nick at the tip of the right-tail fin and very tiny nick to the tip of left tail-fin. Tail-Upperside. A clear pink cookie cutter wound surrounded by light mottling pattern in a ‘fried egg’ appearance -seen on the inside of right tail-fin. Several small patches of light mottling towards the center of the tail.

SLBM001- CookieCutter GPS Sighting Location info for SLBM001 First Recording: 2013.01.25 GPS Location: N 05 46.790, E 80 26.561 Re-sightings to date: N/a

SLBM013 - WhiteFlash Date First Sighted: 2013.01.25 Location: Mirissa GPS: N 05 47 204, E 80 26 646 Sighted by: Georgie Gemmell Re-sightings to date: 2013/01/26 Location of Resighting: Mirissa GPS:N 05 45 346, E 80 27 506 Photos for ID: TUN

Description Tail-Underside: characteristic white scar in the middle of the tail (just below the median notch), exhibits many features that are visible in high-res versions of the two images. A very small nick to the top of the left tail-fin, the white scar (surrounded by two smaller ones). A small white ‘dot’ just at the beginning of the median notch and light mottling pattern, in two distinct blotches, clearly seen on the left tail-fin of both images.

SLBM013 - WhiteFlash GPS Sighting Location info for SLBM013 First Recording: 2013.01.25 (A) GPS Location: N 05 47.204, E80 26.646

Re-sightings: 2013.01.26 (B) GPS Location: N 05 45.346, E 80 27.506

First Sighting (A) Resighting (B)

Part 3: Background information Points covered in this section The Project Objective Creating Awareness of the ID project and encouraging participation Contact Details

Project Progress Who’s behind it  Yes, we know it seems to be in reverse order, covering the objectives at the end. But we have tucked these at the back end as we wanted to get across the information which potential contributors need to know up-front, without having to wade through all the details.

The Project Objective

To provide the foundation model for a long-term, public access photographic study of Sri Lanka’s Blue Whale population, which can then continue to be developed opportunistically by local Whale Watching operators, volunteer cataloguers, scientific advisors and any other community members wishing to help

…for generations to come

The Project Objective: Key Points Utilizing Resources Making use of the amount of field hours spent with Blue Whales, via whale watching trips. The project will use data from both past and future sightings. Public Access: For this project to have longevity, the data collected and knowledge gained must be accessible to the public via platforms such as an annually updated print catalogue, or downloadable PDF version.

Community Assisted Ultimately, this project will be a community one. Inspiring local operators to work together to contribute towards real research. It is a chance for those who wish to join in the effort, to be a part of something that will no-doubt be recognised internationally... allowing the Sri Lankan people to feel a sense of stewardship towards their whales and the marine environment. Inexpensive and Simple The project adopts a very simple, inexpensive and passive form of research which allows for multiple data collectors.

Inclusive The more people involved, the more revealing the data will be.

…And Valuable The catalogue and corresponding data will also add towards the global empirical knowledge available for the Blue Whale. (both Indian Ocean population and species as a whole).

Creating Awareness of The ID Project and encouraging participation Social Media: The project will have it’s own Flickr, Facebook and Twitter page to provide information and daily updates on the progression of the catalogue as well as other posts relevant to Blue Whales.

Print Media: Information sheets (including this guide) will be given to each participating operator, explaining a brief overview of the project and its objective. It will also include details on how to submit a photo to be used for matching, and how to follow the project on Social Media.

Print and Downloadable version of the Catalogue: An annually updated print or downloadable version of the ID catalogue will be released and made readily available for boat operators and other community members to view or download. Spreading the word: Posts, updates and images from the project’s social media pages can be shared on the pages of supportive individuals and interested organisations. These posts will also be regularly shared on the pages of the operators who are supporting the project (Hotel Groups, Whale Watch tour operators, NGO’s etc

3.1 Project Progress Whales Catalogued: A total of 81 to date. SLBM001

CookieCutter SLBM020

Patch

SLBM040

SLBM002

TopSpot

SLBM021

Dent

SLBM041

SLBM003

TopCookie

SLBM022

BobbleFin

SLBM042

SLBM004

Notch

SLBM023

TwoSpot

SLBM043

SLBM005

Polo

SLBM024

PaleTail

SLBM044

SLBM006

MissingPoint SLBM025

Muhudha

SLBM045

SLBM007

LeftSpot

SLBM026

ZigZag

SLBM046

SLBM008

Lefty

SLBM027

WhiteSides

SLBT047

SLBM009

Tatty

SLBM028

TwoStars

SLBT048

SLBM010

NibbledEdge SLBM029

Snow

SLBT049

SLBM011

LeftTip

SLBM030

Ripple

SLBT050

SLBM012

TornTail

SLBM031

SLBM013

WhiteFlash

SLBM032

JaggedEdge SLBM051 SLBM052 Dimples

SLBM014

Fathom

SLBM033

Shade

SLBM053

SLBM015

LittleNick

SLBM034

Crescent

SLBM054

SLBM016

FloppyFin

SLBM035

LittleV

SLBM055

SLBM017

LightSide

SLBM036

BigDipper

SLBM056

SLBM018

PinkSpot

SLBM037

Terri

SLBM057

SLBM060 Scribbles SLBM061 SLBM062 TheSpot SLBM063 Tab SLBM064 DeepWavesSLBM065 SLBM066 Cobalt SLBM067 Iris SLBM068 Jonah SLBM069 SLBM070 Bolt SLBM071 Twix SLBM072 Indigo SLBM073 Priscilla SLBM074 Saamaya SLBM075 SLBM076 Abyss SLBM077 Mysty SLBM078 KitKat SLBM079 SLBM080 Simmer SLBM081 Aqua

SLBM019

Cups

SLBM038

HalfTail

SLBM058

Fortis

SLBM039

Spikes

SLBM059

Ceti

Leo

Cousteau Touro Venus Pluto Oceana Galaxy Macey Mecury Mars Splash Lassana Hally Jupiter Lanka Cosmo Orion Majesty Atlantis Triton Spice Tropica Symphony

International and Local Contributors Already, with no overt publicity, WILD BLUE has seen many people, both local and international, contributing their images to the project.

A list of multi-national contributors. Brandi Bailey – United Kingdom Michael Bamford – United Kingdom Kenny Ross – United Kingdom Joshua Barton- United States Ashan Seneviratne – Sri Lanka Steven Bass – United Kingdom Peter Smart- United Kingdom Riaz Cader – Sri Lanka Andrew Sutton – United Kingdom Jon Facey – United Kingdom Andrew Webb – United Kingdom Pruthiviraj Fernando – Sri Lanka Rajiv Welikala – Sri Lanka Georgie Gemmell – United Kingdom Raja and the whales – Sri Lanka Sampath Gunasinghe – Sri Lanka Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne – Sri Lanka Chris Hall- United Kingdom Vanessa Williams-Grey – United Kingdom James Higgott – United Kingdom Wang Xu Dong - China Chitral Jayatilake – Sri Lanka Arian Zweggers Leif Jonsson-Sweden Vathsala Karunanayke – Sri Lanka Nilantha Kodithuwakku – Sri Lanka Liz Leyden – United Kingdom Koen Hoekemeijer – The Netherlands Iris Liu – China

Contact Details

Contact the Project Team

Would you like to know more information regarding the project? Would you like to know more about how to be involved in unlocking the mysteries of the largest animal this planet has ever seen?

Please email us.

[email protected]

And who is behind it This project is being coordinated by Georgina Gemmell under an initiative by John Keells Hotels and Nature Trails to provide private sector support for research and conservation. Attempts have been made before to photo catalogue marine mammals in Sri Lanka. What makes this project different is that this is the first firm commitment that all the data will be in the public domain for anyone to use (with due credit). It is also the first time an overt attempt has been made to fund a project coordinator to organize the collection of images from the public, photographers and biologists, and to catalogue them in a structured way. In April 2008, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne began taking hundreds of photographs of Blue Whales off Sri Lanka. He hoped they could be used in a Photo ID project. In November 2011 at the Whale Fest in Brighton, Gehan met Georgina Gemmell. She had worked on Orca and Humpback research projects in British Columbia which had involved both acoustic and Photo ID work. Gehan suggested she coordinated a Blue Whale Catalogue for Sri Lanka. In 2012, Gehan discussed this with Chitral Jayatilake one of the pioneers of whale watching in Sri Lanka. In January 2013 Georgina began work with Chitral Jayatilake with John Keells Hotels and Nature Trails in a dual role as a naturalist and Blue Whale Catalogue coordinator. Preliminary data collection for the project had begun earlier with several photographers and marine biologists who had agreed to share their photographs. This was complemented with advice from scientists including Michael Fishbach.

And who is behind it ... continued This project is made possible by the support of a number of individuals who have extended support and advice and have begun to submit their images. Others in Sri Lanka had noticed before that the local Blue Whales fluke-up more often than other populations and that their tails bear distinctive markings. This project is significant as it marks the first overt, structured and widely publicised use of the tails of Blue Whales for the photographic identification adapted from other studies. An approach led by Georgina who realised that this would be easier than the dorsal fin area mottling patterns used elsewhere for Blue Whales. This project also breaks away from the established terminology such as dorsal fluke, ventral fluke and substitutes every day terms such as tail upperside and tail underside. This is influenced by Gehan and Chitral’s ethos of wanting to make natural history accessible to as many adults and school children, as possible.

Acknowledgements The Wild Blue administration team would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their relentless support and guidance, without which this ambitious and unconventional project would not have been made possible. John Keells Hotels and The Nature Trails Team- For both funding the administration and development of the project as well as providing invaluable moral support, knowledge and guidance. The value of a culture where encouragement and support is offered is hard to value in dollars and cents. They have nurtured self-belief and confidence that a young person can run a project of international significance and change what international science knows of an enigmatic and iconic animal. We would also like to extend our gratitude to Canon Inc for supporting the project as the Official Equipment Sponsor and generously providing us with an EOS 650 D camera and 70-200mm lens with which to conduct our field work. … And last but not least The Flickr Community and image contributors – This pubic science project would not have been made possible if it were not for the many fluke images submitted by countless individuals who want to help aid us in our mission to catalogue the Blue Whales of Sri Lanka. Wild Blue is, in essence, a community based project and so if it were not for the support of both the local Whale watching and international community, Wild Blue would not have become the successful project that it is today.