Hello! I am preparing a manuscript on the creation of a photo-id catalog for hawksbill sea turtles. I am looking for information on validating the success of a catalog. After performing a literature search, I did not find any studies quantifying the success of a catalog based on positive matches by naive observers. Wurzig and Wurzig pioneered photo-id and the practice is very common in the field of marine mammalogy. My catalog is low-tech (no computer matching software was used, just people) but I am hopeful that it will aid in conservation efforts.

Please let me know how you validate the success of your catalogs (if the directions, layout, and animal features are appropriate/useful) or what you think a successful matching rate would be.

I would appreciate any information you have, whether peer-reviewed or personal observation.

Thanks in advance!
Mollie Tubbs
metubbs@hotmail.com