Please could the following message be sent out on MARMAM. Thank you. Dear MARMAM, Apologies for cross posting. We are trying to develop a photo-ID database for the North Atlantic beaked whales in collaboration with as many partners as possible. The project is being run by Universidade La Laguna (ULL), Tenerife in collaboration with the World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) and its partners. We are asking for photographs and data of any beaked whale species in the North Atlantic to be submitted on the Cetabase website: http://www.cetabase.info/index-i.php You will retain ownership of any photos and data that you submit, and your contribution will help us to gain vital information on these data deficient species. Please find below the instructions for using Cetabase. If you have any problems please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you, Rebecca Boys rebecca@worldcetaceanalliance.org Without collaboration we will achieve nothing more than a drop in the ocean. ~ Jean-Michel Cousteau, Honorary President, WCA Studio 3, Lower Promenade, Madeira Drive, Brighton, BN2 1ET, UK Office: +44(0)1273 355011. www.worldcetaceanalliance.org North Atlantic Beaked Whale Photo-ID Project – trial phase I am writing to ask if you would be happy to submit a small number of beaked whale images from your database or image archive as part of a trial we are running until 20th October 2015. Our plan is to develop a North Atlantic Beaked Whale Photo-Identification Catalogue in collaboration with as many partners as possible, and this trial will help us understand who is willing to help and what data may be available. The project is being led by the University of La Laguna (ULL) in collaboration with the World Cetacean Alliance and its Partners. We are asking if you could submit five images or more of beaked whales to the ULL Cetabase website at: http://www.cetabase.info/index-i.php . You will retain ownership of the images and data use and your contribution will give us vital information on the potential for further collaboration and data gathering throughout the North Atlantic. We will then review the contributions at the World Whale Conference in the Azores, 26-27 October 2015, and provide you with a feedback report and next steps after this event. If you can help with just a few minutes of your time to upload some images and information to Cetabase we would be extremely grateful. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch for more information or assistance with Cetabase. Once the trial is complete we will contact you again with the initial results and our next step plans to continue the project. With best wishes, Rebecca Boys Email: rebecca@worldcetaceanalliance.org Further info Most beaked whale species remain poorly studied yet we are aware of a number of threats, including an extreme sensitivity to loud sounds. Scientific studies are also increasingly showing how site faithful beaked whales can be, so local populations could be at high risk when threatened by continual man-made impacts such as military sonar activity in specific locations. Photo-identification of beaked whales remains an important tool for us to learn more about their distribution, movements and life history parameters. It is essential that we continue to photo-identify beaked whales and make our information available in a central resource if we are to improve our attempts to protect them and their habitats. INSTRUCTIONS CETABASE 1. HOW TO REGISTER AS A USER The first step to using the resources CETABASE makes available is to register as a user. To do this, select Collaborate in the main menu. You must fill in a series of details and add a brief explanation of your objectives, the species and study area. Once registered, each time you access Cetabase you have to log in as a user. The username is your e-mail and you choose the password. You can alter or update your details at any time via the Change My Data tab that appears in the menu on the left. 2. PHOTO-IDENTIFICATION CATALOGUE Cetabase offers a unique tool to create a virtual photo-identification catalogue according to species and sighting area, so that anyone, wherever they are in the world can create their own catalogue and/or access the different catalogues available. 2.1 Create a new individual To add a new individual, you enter through the menu, Individuals: New individual. Various fields are displayed, ready to be filled in. ALL are mandatory except for Name (Mnemo) and Observations. 5.2- Individuals/Sightings Sighting Statistics: the following tables may be generated: a) Overall record of captures catches with Q and M: - for a species - for all species b) Capture case-histories for each species c) Table of sightings arranged by season d) General table of sightings with individuals - for a species - for all species e) Social Composition Table (under construction)