By photographing (Figure 1) the "fluke" or tail of the sperm whale as it begins a dive (Figure 2), biologists are able to positively identify individual sperm whales. The fluke of a whale can be thought of as it's fingerprint, each containing scars, nicks, holes and other identifying features. After the tagging boat places a satellite tag on a sperm whale, the photo-identification boat follows the whale until it "flukes up", or dives. Fluke photos are incorporated into the existing Gulf of Mexico sperm whale catalog, which has fluke photos of more than 200 individual animals. Fluke photographs from sperm whales in the Gulf of Mexico have been compared to those collected in other areas (Atlantic and Mediterranean) and no matches have been found, suggesting few movements between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic.

Figure 3

While waiting for a tag to be deployed on a sperm whale, scientists are able to observe other life in the Gulf. Creatures big and small abound. A small triggerfish (Figure 3) floats with a raft of sargassum...

Figure 4

...while later in the day a large whale shark swims with a school of Bonita (Figure 4). The sperm whale seismic study provides endless opportunities to observe the diversity of life in the Gulf.