A collaborative and near-comprehensive North Pacific humpback whale photo-ID dataset

Abstract

We present an ocean-basin-scale dataset that includes tail fluke photographic identification (photo-ID) and encounter data for most living individual humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the North Pacific Ocean. The dataset was built through a broad collaboration combining 39 separate curated photo-ID catalogs, supplemented with community science data. Data from throughout the North Pacific were aggregated into 13 regions, including six breeding regions, six feeding regions, and one migratory corridor. All images were compared with minimal pre-processing using a recently developed machine learning artificial intelligence image recognition algorithm capable of rapidly detecting matches between individuals to an estimated 97–99% accuracy. For the study period of 2001 to 2021, a total of 27,956 unique individuals were documented in 157,350 encounters. Each individual was encountered, on average, in 5.6 sampling periods (i.e., breeding and feeding seasons), with an annual average of 87% of whales encountered in more than one season. The combined dataset and image recognition tool represents a living and accessible resource for collaborative, basin-wide studies of a keystone marine mammal in a time of rapid ecological change.

DNA from dives: Species detection of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from flukeprint eDNA

“…Historically, population levels fell well to a record low between 1908 and 1967 during commercial whaling in the northeastern Pacific, with an estimated ~6000 humpback whales killed during this period (Gregr et al., 2000). Despite the observed increase in abundance of North Pacific humpback whale populations to ~28,000 (Cheeseman et al., 2023) since the end of commercial whaling (Ashe et al., 2013; Calambokidis et al., 2008; Wedekin et al., 2017), low prey abundance, climate change, ship strikes, and entanglement in fishing gear remain major threats to individual survival (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2013; Gabriele et al., 2022). Considering the stressors this species faces, it is important to be able to effectively collect information on population distribution and abundance throughout their known range.…”