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Photo tracking for conservation purposes has been put into practice using a diverse range of species, from honey bees (Apis mellifera) to African elephants (Loxodonta africana) (Wursig & Jefferson, 1990).  Researchers tracking the populations, migration patterns, and general behavior of cetaceans in the 1970s found that they were able to move beyond simple population studies by identifying individual animals. They could gain even deeper understanding of a species by studying survivorship, reproductive patterns, and even genetic population differentiation (Wursig & Jefferson, 1990).  In this method, individuals are identified based on distinct patterns and markings, and catalogued in a database for further study (Wursig & Jefferson, 1990).
The species in the following photoset have spot patterns sufficient for identification; computer programs and algorithms analyze the patterns and automatically identify individuals similar to face recognition technology. (Speed, C. W., Meekan, M. G., & Bradshaw, C. JA., 2007).

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Strengths of Wildlife Photo Identification: Non-Invasive When Compared to Mark-Recapture Studies

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Strengths of Wildlife Photo Identification: Non-Invasive When Compared to Mark-Recapture Studies

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Photo identification programs provide population demographic information vital to conservation and species management without the invasive quality of the mark-recapture strategy (Speed, C. W., Meekan, M. G., & Bradshaw, C. JA., 2007). Not only is the application of artificial identifying markers stressful to animals due to necessary handling and restraint, they may also disrupt the natural habits of the animals, skewing behavioral data (Speed, C. W., Meekan, M. G., & Bradshaw, C. JA., 2007).  With a wildlife photo identification project, no direct contact is made with the subjects; if aerial photos are used, animals may not even notice when photos are taken.

While mark-recapture tags are a reliable method for identifying individual animals like this Veery (Catharus fuscescens), the colorful bands may disrupt the bird's ability to camouflage itself and interfere with mating behaviors (Cleminson & Nebel, 2012).

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Strengths of Wildlife Photo Identification: Capacity for Longitudinal Studies

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Strengths of Wildlife Photo Identification: Capacity for Longitudinal Studies

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By assigning individuals within a population identifying characteristics, researchers are able to perform longitudinal studies by following an individual for many years.  This allows for data collection on growth rates, reproductive history, and even social behaviors (Alves et al., 2013).  For example, researchers found that long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) maintain non-random social systems; that is, individuals were identified based on photos and observed in the same social groups several years later (Alves et al., 2013).

The following photos depict the dorsal fin of the same killer whale (Orcinus orca) two years apart as part of a longitudinal study on population abundance (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, 2015).

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Drawbacks of Photo Identification for Conservation: Use of Aircraft is Inaccessible

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Drawbacks of Photo Identification for Conservation: Use of Aircraft is Inaccessible

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Aerial photos are sometimes used for wildlife photo identification.  While conventional aircraft including helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes have successfully been utilized in the past to capture these aerial photos of free-ranging whales for conservation research, this practice is not widely used.  In addition to any potential disturbances to whales, the technology is simply not available in remote regions nor is it affordable within typical research budgets (Durban, J. W., Fearnbach, H., Barrett-Lennard, L. G., Perryman, W. L., & Leroi, D. J., 2015).

To combat this, researchers have started using unmanned miniature helicopters that take high quality photos without disturbing the whales (Durban, J. W., Fearnbach, H., Barrett-Lennard, L. G., Perryman, W. L., & Leroi, D. J., 2015).

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Drawbacks of Photo Identification for Conservation: Limits in Scope

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Drawbacks of Photo Identification for Conservation: Limits in Scope

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While one of its greatest strengths is its ability to gather information without disturbing wildlife, photo identification for research lacks the potential to expand by itself. Only so much can be learned through a hands-off, strictly observational approach. It does not lend itself to sample collection (blood, urine, fecal, reproductive fluids, tissues, etc.) or studies based on animals' responses to environmental manipulation. Wursig & Jefferson (1990) suggest pairing this method with other data-gathering techniques such as focal animal studies and blood hormone or chromosome analysis.

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Northern and Southern Resident Killer Whale Aerial Photo Comparison

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Northern and Southern Resident Killer Whale Aerial Photo Comparison

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The following video details an ongoing study by NOAA and the Vancouver Aquarium that uses aerial photographs taken from an unmanned hexacopter of the Northern Resident killer whales off the coast of British Columbia. It describes how these images can be used to gain knowledge on animals' body conditions and sizes, family units, and group dynamics (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2015). SeaWorld San Diego has contributed to this project by photographing their killer whales in the same way the Northern and Southern Resident killer whales are photographed. Along with these parallel photos, they are able to provide information on length, weight, age, sex, and even stage of pregnancy for the whales in their collection (Stewart, 2016). When applied to the wild whales' photos, this gives researchers an incredibly accurate scale and point of comparison.

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Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Offers a New View of Killer Whales

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For the first time, scientists have used an unmanned aerial vehicle to photograph killer whales from above. This gives scientists a new way to monitor killer whale health and reproduction while giving us all a stunning new view of the species.

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Alves, F., Quérouil, S., Dinis, A., Nicolau, C., Ribeiro, C., Freitas, L., ... & Fortuna, C. (2013). Population structure of short‐finned pilot whales in the oceanic archipelago of Madeira based on photo‐identification and genetic analyses: implications for conservation. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and freshwater ecosystems, 23(5), 758-776.

Cleminson, A. & Nebel, S. (2012). Bird banding. Nature Education Knowledge. 3(8):1.

Durban, J. W., Fearnbach, H., Barrett-Lennard, L. G., Perryman, W. L., & Leroi, D. J. (2015). Photogrammetry of killer whales using a small hexacopter launched at sea 1. Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems, 3(3), 131-135.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2015). Studying killer whales with an unmanned aerial vehicle. Retrieved from http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/stories/2015/07/studyingkillerwhales_uav.html

Speed, C. W., Meekan, M. G., & Bradshaw, C. J. (2007). Spot the match–wildlife photo-identification using information theory. Frontiers in zoology, 4(1), 2.

Stewart, J. (2016). Proceedings from International Marine Animal Trainers' Association '16 Annual Conference: Killer whale research at SeaWorld San Diego directly linked to the southern resident killer whale population.  San Diego, CA.

Wiirsig, B., & Jefferson, T. A. (1990). Methods of photo-identification for small cetaceans. Individual recognition of cetaceans: Use of photo identification and other techniques to estimate population parameters, 43-51.