Current whale shark tracking methods are only marginally adequate: passive tagging can irritate the sharks; satellite tags often fail at depth and have a limited battery life; visually inspecting dozens of photos to find similarities in the sharks’ unique spot patterns is quasi-effective, but obviously: grueling.
Recently, marine biologists have teamed up with optical astronomers and co-opted their technique for comparing patterns among stars to test for new intergalactic bodies. In a test using known matches, the astronomers’ optical program correctly matched shark photos – by analyzing those distinctive spots! – over 90% of the time.
The biologists hope that the method can be applied to tracking other creatures, such as lions, which have small dark spots near their whiskers. No doubt it could also be used for other marine creatures, as well, including dolphins.
