Tools for scientific research on cetaceans (and other species)

Cetacean Bycatch Resource Center
Sponsored by the WWF, the Cetacean Bycatch Resource Center serves as an online clearinghouse for information, statistics, news, inquiries, scientific papers, technological advances and the latest developments in cetacean bycatch mitigation. It also serves as the virtual headquarters of the Cetacean Bycatch Task Force, an international network comprised of leading authorities on bycatch mitigation who can be contacted for assistance through this Web site.

Cetacean Research Technology
Technical equipment for cetacean research, including hydrophones, suction cups and other tools targeted to marine mammal research professionals.

FinBase
FinBase is a customized Microsoft Access database that not only stores and manages textual and numerical data from photo-identification surveys, but also performs many of the tasks associated with image management and analysis. A companion ArcGIS™ Extension called the FinBase Mapping Tool was also developed to allow users to easily query FinBase while in a GIS environment and spatially display output.

Programs for the analysis of animal social structure
SOCPROG is a series of MATLAB programs written by Hal Whitehead for analyzing data on the social structure, population structure and movements of identified individuals. The programs are designed to be easy to use, most input is done through graphical user interfaces, and most things can be done without any knowledge of MATLAB. The programs are designed to be flexible so you can tailor the analyses to your data and hypotheses.

Marine mammal skeletal preparation and articulation
A message sent to MARMAM, explaining how to prepare a marine mammal skeleton.

Software for population analysis
A fairly complete list of available software and related information to perform population analysis, particularly in terms of estimation of abundance, and both survival and recruitment rates (using both capture-recapture and recovery models).

PWRC software archive
The following programs were developed at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and elsewhere for the analysis of animal populations for wildlife biologists and managers.

Open source scientific software
This site lists some open source software commonly used in cetacean research.

Quantum GIS
QGIS is a user friendly Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) that runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, and Windows. QGIS supports vector, raster, and database formats. It lets you browse and create map data on your computer. It supports many common spatial data formats (e.g. ESRI ShapeFile, geotiff). QGIS supports plugins to do things like display tracks from your GPS. QGIS is Open Source software and its free of cost.

Resources for digital media tools
A basic guide to digital media resources to help you get the most out of disseminating your information to a wider public. The particular focus is on geospatial technologies such as Google Earth and GPS, but additional technologies and software are also covered

Obis - Seamap
Website for project OBIS-SEAMAP (Ocean Biogeographic Information System - Spatial Ecological Analysis of Megavertebrate Populations). Marine mammal, seabird and sea turtle data are organized into a spatially referenced database.

Ocean Colour Portal
EC database of remote sensing information.

Pythagoras
The program interfaces with a digital theodolite and provides a dynamic and user-friendly interface to support theodolite tracking. The system collects, manages and analyzes theodolite data and calculates distance, bearing, and location information in real-time. It was designed to store theodolite station information (such as the observation height, geographical position of the station, and reference azimuth) for multiple stations.

Raven Pro
Raven Pro is an interactive sound analysis programme intended for bioacoustics research. Raven allows for the acquisition, visualization, measurement, and analysis of sounds. It is produced by Cornell University's Bioacoustics Research Program. Raven Pro provides a powerful, user-friendly research and teaching tool for scientists working with acoustic signals. Raven Lite is a free software program that lets users record, save, and visualize sounds as spectrograms and waveforms. Raven Exhibit is a sound visualization and recording system optimized for public displays and exhibits. Raven Viewer provides visual access to the sounds in the Macaulay Library archive, the world's largest collection of recorded animal sounds.

Star-Oddi Ltd
Star-Oddi manufactures technology for researches on the oceans and its living resources, including archival tags, temperature and depth loggers, salinity data loggers. Submersable data loggers and underwater temperature recorders have been used in fish tags and tagging other marine animals and within the fields of fisheries research and oceanography.

More tools can be found in the Education section.