They also look at relative body size, the pigmentation pattern of the saddle patch and eye patch, scars, deformities, detail of tail fluke edges, encrustations, blemishes, and rake marks. CWR researchers photograph orcas as they surface to breathe, exposing their head and back (including their dorsal fin and saddle patch).

2021年11月4日 · Whales often raise their tails, called flukes, out of the water when they dive, and flukes have characteristics that are unique among species and individuals. Researchers use a process called photo identification to identify and monitor individuals and populations over time, all without the need to interact or make contact with the animals.

2018年11月13日 · Technically called a fluke, a whale’s tail is like a fingerprint: its markings are unique to each individual. Among distinct patterns of black and white pigmentation are scars that detail their...

INVERTED TAIL LOB—On its back, it raises its flukes above the water’s surface, bringing them down with force. KELPING—“Plays” with kelp or seaweed by dragging it on any body part; often, it tries to position the kelp in the notch of its flukes.

A large male killer whale may have tail flukes measuring 2.75 m (9 ft.) from tip to tip. Longitudinal muscles in the back one-third of the body (both above and below the spine) move the flukes up and down. Like the arteries of the flippers, the arteries of the flukes are surrounded by veins to help maintain body temperature. Dorsal Fin

Flukes. Each lobe of the two-lobed tail is called a fluke. Flukes are flat pads of tough, dense, fibrous connective tissue, completely without bone or cartilage. Although killer whales have 50 to 54 vertebrae, no bones extend into the flukes.

Humpback whales have patterns on the underside of their tail-flukes unique to each individual! Just like human fingerprints! Photographs of humpback whale flukes allow marine biologists to identify and monitor whales non-invasively and across ocean basins!

2000年1月14日 · Underwater movies of killer whales (Orcinus orca) feeding on shoals of herring (Clupea harengus) off the coast of Norway reveal how these whales use their powerful tails to stun the fish before...

Flukes are the two lobes of the whale tail. While each whale has flukes, flukes themselves differ from species to species. In some whale species, flukes are so distinctive that researchers use them like fingerprints to identify individuals.

Each whale has a unique pattern on the underside of its tail fluke, which can be used as a fingerprint, allowing researchers to identify individual whales.