In some species males and females look different, this is called sexual dimorphism. Often times it is the males that have the distinct features, but not always. Sometimes the features are VERY different, and sometimes they are more subtle. Being able to know if an individual is male or female is important in understanding their social structure, behavior, mating strategies and can inform conservation measures. It is often hard to know the sex of a whale, dolphin or porpoise as many species don't have distinct sexual dimorphism, and other ways to determine sex are more invasive (like biopsies or necropsies). In this episode we dive into a new technology that allows researchers to determine the sex of individual whales by using photographs. They use a special program, ImageJ, that allows researchers to use pixel measurements to quantify different body parts (like fin height, length, etc.). They can then use combinations of these measurements to create ratios that they can then compare between individuals. Join us and learn how this new technology may allow researchers to be able to predict the sex of individuals, and the implications that has on conservation!

For a small monhtly fee, subscribe to our podcast and get ad free listening and bonus mini episodes!: https://anchor.fm/pacific-mammal-research/subscribe

Paper is available here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mms.12963