Introduction to Mid-Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin Catalog (MABDC)
Overview of the Project
The MABDC was developed in 1997, with initial support from the U.S. NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), to examine population structure of bottlenose dolphins along the western North Atlantic coast. The MABDC has grown to include more than 30,000 dorsal fin images provided by 45 contributors (multiple effort exists at some sites), with images dating back to 1979. The MABDC includes dorsal fin images from the entire range of bottlenose dolphins along the U.S. Atlantic coast, from New York to Florida, and also includes catalogs of stranded bottlenose dolphins submitted by regional stranding networks.
The MABDC portal is a component of the Ocean Biodiversity Information System Spatial Ecological Analysis of Megavertebrate Populations (OBIS-SEAMAP), and includes an online set of web-based tools that allows researchers to compare their images, browse catalogs of interest, identify potential matches, and examine sighting histories.
The system allows contributors to collaborate across geographic and institutional boundaries and provides an archive of data and images, which is important for historic datasets. Since the early support of the MABDC by the NMFS Southeast Science Center, development of the MABDC has been supported by the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, the National Science Foundation, the NMFS Southeast Regional Office and North Carolina Sea Grant. The MABDC is maintained by a curator (Urian), who applies Quality Assurance and Control (QA/QC) techniques, but this is fundamentally a cooperative program, with contributions from many individuals who conduct independent research programs.
Overview of the PhotoID App
The online photo-identification matching application for the MABDC allows you to compare dorsal fin images across study sites and present potential matches to the relevant contributors for verification. The following presentations will guide you through the basic usage of the application. The online help below describes more details.
Latest Updates
- [April 2021] MD-PCDP has reorganized the data and is now registered as MD-PCDP_update.
- [March 2021] SC-NMFS added new images.
- [March 2021] New site GA-Sailor was added.
Overview Presentations
- Major Upgrade (version 3) (PDF; 4.4MB)
- Animal Matching with PhotoID App on OBIS-SEAMAP (PDF; 6.6 MB)
Highlights of the App
- Browse thumbnails of dorsal fin images
- Search dorsal fins using different filtering options
- Compare two animals / images side by side
- Process images by zooming in/out, rotating and overlaying one over the other to match features
- Plot relevant sightings on the map
- Go through animal matching workflow and assign a "Match ID" once the potential match is verified by the contributors
Curator and Contributors
Curator
Kim Urian
Duke University Marine Laboratory
kim.urian@gmail.com
Logging in to the application
The PhotoID App is available to MABDC contributors who are assigned a login name and initial password for the account by the curator. There are two ways to log in.
There are two ways to log in.
- Visit the OBIS-SEAMAP front page and click "Log in" link at the upper right corner of the window.
- Directly go to the MABDC PhotoID App and you will be forwarded to the login form.
Change password
1. Log in to the OBIS-SEAMAP front page at https://seamap.env.duke.edu.
2. Go to [My Data]. Note that [My Data] tab does not exist in the Photo ID application. Please go to the front page when you are on the Photo ID application.
3. In [OBIS-SEAMAP Account] section, enter a new password into [Password] box.
4. Click [Change password].
Terms of Use
Given the proprietary data included in the PhotoID Application for the Mid-Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin Catalog (MABDC PhotoID App), this application is private to the contributors who are granted access to the App by the Curator and issued an OBIS-SEAMAP account.
By accepting this document, the user agrees to the following when using MABDC PhotoID App and going through matching workflow:
- Prior to the initial access to the MABDC PhotoID App, users will communicate with the Curator to get granted to access the App,
- The OBIS-SEAMAP account must not be shared with others unless a permission is given by the Curator and the OBIS-SEAMAP manager,
- The MABDC PhotoID App gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of these data, images and matching information.
- Data and images provided in the MABDC PhotoID App may not be modified, copied, or distributed to individuals, institutions or organizations outside of the Catalog contributors unless a permission is obtained from the contributor(s).
- In all products referring, explicitly or peripherally, to the data, images and matching information provided by the MABDC PhotoID App, OBIS-SEAMAP must be explicitly cited.
