North East Cetacean Project (NECP)

Thanks to funding from Natural England, we are now able to make our dolphin photo-ID catalogues for North East England publicly available.

The MARINElife/North East Cetacean Project photo-ID catalogues for North East England feature 74 individual Bottlenose Dolphins, recorded between 2012-2024, and 193 individual White-beaked Dolphins, recorded between 2010-2023.  Each individual animal has a catalogue reference (NL_BND_### or NL_WBD_###, respectively), some have given names, left and right-side images are shown where available, and for each animal the years in which it has been recorded are indicated.  The majority of the Bottlenose Dolphins recorded have previously been catalogued by Aberdeen University/St Andrew’s University so their ‘north of the border’ catalogue numbers are also included (AULFS #).  The White-beaked Dolphin catalogue is completely novel, with no animals known to be in other catalogues.

Both catalogues have been created with the help and support of many citizen scientists, who we are eternally grateful to. There’s an opportunity to contribute to our ongoing photo-ID research out to the midpoint of the North Sea between the Scottish Border and the river Humber. If you have photographs of either species, or any other whale, dolphin or porpoise, taken in that area please contact the NECP Project Coordinator, Martin Kitching martin@northeastcetaceanproject.org.uk for advice on how your images can help to advance the discussions around marine conservation in North East England.