Animals with patterned features can often be identified uniquely. By taking a picture, you can match that pattern to others already in the database. Your animal might be new to the database, or it might be a new sighting of one we have seen before!
You can upload files from your computer, or take them directly from your Flickr or Facebook account. Be sure to enter when and where you saw the animal, and add other information, such as species or sex, if you can. You will receive email updates when your animal is processed.
Wildbook uses computer vision to compare new photos to the existing database. Researchers then visually confirm a match to an existing animal in the database, or create a new individual profile.
When the automatic matching process is completed, a researcher double-checks any matches made by the system. Once confirmed, these new sightings are stored permanently in Wildbook.
412 identified Turtles
3091 reported sightings
105 recorded nests
26 researchers and volunteers
"The 'gold standard' for sea turtle population monitoring programs are long-term capture-mark-recapture (CMR) studies on nesting
beaches as well as foraging areas for populations. Comprehensive CMR studies facilitate
robust abundance assessments and diagnoses of population trends, which, in turn, inform
effective conservation management efforts."
-State of the World's Sea Turtles(SWOT) Minimum Data Standards for Nesting Beach Monitoring Technical Report
