Background Information on I.D. photographs.
To gain information on a species or population of animals, scientists employ a wide range of tools. Some methods require the researcher to identify individuals. To do this the use of tags for marking animals is being replaced by the ability to recognise individuals by their natural markings. These markings, and those resulting from injury, have been used to identify individuals from a wide range of species, including zebra, lions, fish, crayfish, chimpanzees, gorillas, elephants, and cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) includingorca. Killer Whaleskiller whales.

A1 © I. N. Visser	Nicky © I. N. Visser	Stealth © I. N. Visser

Identifying animals by these naturally occurring features can be difficult and requires patience and practice, however, it is often the best approach in terms of minimising suffering and disruption to the animal. One way of keeping track of markings on an individual is photography, hence this method is commonly referred to as 'photo-identification' or 'photo-I.D.'
These photo-I.D. methods have become standard practice for researchers working with cetaceans, even using photos of the animals that were not originally taken for identification purposes, including photographs taken by the public.

How Can You Help?
We would be most grateful for any contributions to the catalogue. We are particularly interested in sharp photographs that clearly show dorsal fin, saddle patches and/or eye patches, as well as information about date, time and location of sighting, group size, and feeding activity. If you have either photographs or video, please download the sighting form, and mail it along with your images or video. If you did not manage to collect any usable photographs or video, we would still be interested in hearing from you, as your sighting can add valuable data to the overall picture of where these animals go and at what time of the year. In this case please download the sightings form fill it out the details you can, stating that no photographs were obtained, and post it to us. Thank you!
Thank you for your time and help. You will be adding to the worldwide knowledge base about these animals. Your data will be shared with scientists interested in many aspects of the marine environment in Antarctic waters.

What Will Be Done With The Photographs?
We will enter, archive, and analyse this information in a searchable sightings database. Photographers will retain copyright of their work, and contact addresses will NOT be supplied to third parties.We will not sell images but will forward any requests for use on to photographers.
We have secured co-operation from members of the International Antarctic Association of Tour Operators (IAATO). We have requested IAATO members to inform guests and naturalists aboard ships visiting Antarctica to contribute sighting information as well as data on foraging behaviour and photos and videos for the identification catalogue.
Yourinformation will be of interest to us.