Killer Whales of the Northern Indian Ocean

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Northern Indian Ocean Killer Whale ID Catalogue About: Identification Methods: This catalogue uses the tears, nicks and scars found on the dorsal fin as the primary method to identify individuals. Saddle Patch Pigmentation: The saddle patch is the grey saddle-shaped area at the base of a killer whale's dorsal fin. It is typically used as a feature for identification in the study of other killer whales, particularly in those from cold and temperate waters. However, killer whales in the tropics tend to have a saddle patch that is too faint to be a reliable feature for ID. Visibility and degree of shading does tend to vary from animal to animal and pod to pod, with some individuals having no visible patch while others’ are clear enough to see unique contrasting scars. In the cases where an individual’s saddle patch is clear enough to be used in identification, the image has been cropped to include it. Limitations of opportunistic data: Many of the encounters with these elusive, pelagic killer whales were opportunistic. Please understand that image quality and availability varies. For this catalogue, we have used just one side of the dorsal fin that best shows the overall silhouette. The killer whales are catalogued into pods, but in some cases not all of the pod was photographed, or photographed with a quality suitable for ID. At the top of each pod listing, an approximate number of animals sighted during that encounter has been given. This is based on either details provided by the observer or the number of distinguishable individuals present in photographs and/or footage. 8
Pod 1. (6 individuals) NIO001 NIO002 NIO003 NIO004 All images © Chris Johnson/ WWF Sighting Location(s): Africa East, Eritrea Other Catalogues: Not at present time. 9
Page 1 and 2: Killer Whales of the Northern India
Page 3 and 4: About the NIO Killer Whale Alliance
Page 5 and 6: Member Organizations Orca Project S
Page 7: Pod or Individual ID Date Location
Page 11 and 12: Pod 3. (approx. 8 individuals) NIO0
Page 13 and 14: Pod 5. (2 individuals) NIO016 All i
Page 15 and 16: Pod 7. (approx. 5 individuals) NIO0
Page 17 and 18: Pod 9. (3 individuals) NIO025 All i
Page 19 and 20: Pod 11. (11 individuals) NIO029 NIO
Page 21 and 22: Suspected Lone Individual NIO038 ©
Page 23 and 24: Pod 12. (3 individuals) NIO040 All
Page 25 and 26: Pod 13. (2 individuals) NIO043 All
Page 27 and 28: Pod 15. (6 individuals) NIO047 NIO0
Page 29 and 30: Suspected Lone Individual NIO051 ©

Killer Whales of the Northern Indian Ocean

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