Interactive maps and data visualizations from three years of cetacean surveys in the British Virgin Islands
All 169 sightings across 9 species on ocean bathymetry basemap. Filter by year and species. Toggle effort track, heatmap, and effort-corrected hotspot grid.
Interactive Ocean BasemapSynced side-by-side comparison of raw sighting counts and effort-corrected encounter rates per 0.05° grid cell. Maps pan and zoom together.
Interactive Ocean BasemapPhoto-ID matched via Happy Whale. Each line traces one whale's sighting history across the North Atlantic — from feeding grounds in Iceland, Norway, Svalbard, Greenland, and Canada to BVI breeding waters. Click tracks for details.
Interactive Ocean BasemapAll five research questions (Spatial, Seasonality, Behavior, Human Overlap, Movement Patterns) with charts, maps, filters, and the full migration network.
InteractiveSurvey period: January 2023 – October 2025. Data collected via ObserveMer survey platform. Photo-identification through Happy Whale. 62 expedition days across the British Virgin Islands, with primary focus on humpback whale breeding season (January–May) around Anegada and the surrounding shelf waters.
Key findings: Consistent hotspot near Anegada across all years. 27 whales matched to feeding grounds in Iceland, Norway, Canada, Greenland, and other Caribbean breeding areas. Peak vessel–cetacean overlap in March coinciding with calving season.