Sea Search Killer Whale Identification
By Aaron Barnes

1. News

A big thank you to Raggy Charters and Libu Littlewhale for capturing and sharing these high-quality images of the killer whale group encountered on 18 February in Algoa Bay! But these photos aren’t just beautiful - they’re data!!

Seven killer whales were seen during the encounter, six of which were photographed and identified (second pic), turns out its same group that was seen in Algoa Bay last month!!

Killer whales 16, 34, and 53 are adult males which we can tell from their fin size and shape, 52 and 56 are adult females, and 101 seems to be a juvenile (which we can't sex accurately but probably female). These individuals form part of a larger pod which have now been seen in Algoa Bay in 2022, twice in 2024, and of course twice in 2026. They've also been previously spotted around Plettenberg Bay, Mossel Bay, Knysna, Gansbaai, and False Bay

These identifications feed into our country-wide photo-identification project where we are using images like these to identify any and all individual killer whales based on natural markings including dorsal fin shape, saddle and eye patch patterns, and other markings like scars. By matching individuals across sightings, we can track movements, associations, how frequently specific whales use certain areas over time, among many other interesting factors

Have a go at trying to match the individuals in the photos yourself

This is just one of the many steps we are taking to try and improve our understanding of these awesome animals but it wouldn't be possible without collaborative efforts like this. Call it science powered by collaboration!

Aaron Barnes of Sea Search. ( https://seasearch.co.za/    https://www.africanbioacoustics.org/ )

Article by Daily Maverick.