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WP POD SURVEYOR

Only citizen scientists who are trained by DRI researchers should use this form.

WELCOME WP POD SURVEYOR

The Western Port Pod Surveyor is an easy way to report sightings of dolphins and contribute to creating positive impacts for cetaceans during this time of rapid environmental change. The goal of this program is to understand the spatial and temporal patterns of the resident common dolphins in the Mornington region and also bottlenose dolphins that may move through the area.

Western Port Pod Surveyor is the only long-term, independent and secure portal where citizen scientists can be confident that their data is used to provide up-to-date and publicly available understandings about cetaceans, aiding educational, government, private enterprise and wildlife managers in making informed decisions.

See below for more frequently asked questions.

Frequently asked questions

Why report my sightings to Western Port Pod Surveyor?

Western Port Pod Surveyor submissions are added to our long-term dolphin and large whale monitoring programs. The Dolphin Research Institute currently hosts the only large whale monitoring program in Victoria – the Two Bays Whale Project.

The Port Phillip Pod Surveyor program aims to provide accurate and up to date information on the presence and absence of dolphins along the Victorian coast, with a strong focus on Port Phillip region. Without contributions to this program, many pieces of information are not collected and therefore not considered in important decision making for the conservation and management of dolphins and large whale species.

How is my Western Port Pod Surveyor data used?

Your contributions are placed through a robust quality assurance process to ensure the information retained in our database is reliable and of the highest quality. This information is then used in several ways such as, providing important information to wildlife management agencies, social media notifications, populating annual reports and mapping sighting locations.

Who has access to Western Port Pod Surveyor data?

All submissions to Western Port Pod Surveyor appear as data in annual reports which are available to anyone from school students to stakeholders to government, other scientists and even corporate organisations. What isn’t available publicly is the fine-scale detail in the data (including your personal information), this remains the intellectual property of the contributor and is accessible only by formal request to that contributor.

What about my privacy?

Your privacy is of the utmost importance to the Dolphin Research Institute and we are committed to respecting the right to the privacy of all individuals and organisations. We ensure that we comply with the Australian Federal Privacy Act. See our Privacy Policy here: https://www.dolphinresearch.org.au/privacy-policy/

I have another question about Western Port Pod Surveyor?

If you have more questions about Western Port Pod Surveyor, how this data is used or your privacy, please get in contact with us here.