[CINC] Digital Program for Photo-Identification of Bottlenose Dolphin

[David Chubb]

A professor of computer science, Kelly Debure, at Eckerd College in St 
Petersburg, Florida, has developed a program to provide digital photo ID 
of bottlenose dolphins.
In a press release from Newswise, Debure explains, "The program ranks 
catalog fin images from 'most like' to 'least like' the new unknown fin 
image and presents images for side by side comparison."

We've all heard of the tedious manual examination of photos needed to ID 
whales in the SB Channel. I assume someday we'll see a system like this 
used here. According to the Newswire release: "The DARWIN software is 
free and available for download. Over 20 years, Debure and Eckerd 
students have continued to refine the software and are adapting the 
software's algorithms to make it appropriate for identification of other 
species. Debure says, “Although it was originally developed for use with 
bottlenose dolphins, it has been used by research groups on related 
species such as fin whales, indo-pacific humpback dolphins, spinner 
dolphins, and basking sharks.”

Original can be found at: 
http://www.newswise.com/articles/identifying-dolphins-with-technology