photo credit Jayne Jenkins
Every shark has a unique spot pattern on each flank. A photo of a flank can be matched to another photo of the same flank. Or your shark may be a new addition to our database.
You can upload files from your computer, or take them directly from your Flickr or Facebook account. Be sure to enter when and where you saw the shark and add any other information where possible, such as flank, sex and human impact. You will receive email updates when your shark is processed by a researcher or matched in the future.
When you submit a shark identification photo, a local researcher receives a notification. This researcher will double-check the information you have submitted. After this, your photo is available for match searches.
Once a researcher is happy with all the data accompanying the identification photo, they will run the matcher algorithm. The algorithm is like facial recognition software for shark flanks.
The algorithm provides researchers with a ranked selection of possible shark matches. Researchers will then visually confirm a match to an existing shark in the database, or create a new shark profile. At this stage, you will receive an update email.
1102 Left 1639 Right unique individuals
3791 Left 3044 Right reported encounters
177 contributors
photo credit Jim Dodd
“We aim to monitor and report on the health of the Australian Grey Nurse Shark by providing non-invasive tools to the dive community to record changes at their local aggregations sites. We also welcome similar groups from around the world to join this project.” - Sean Barker, Project Leader
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