IWDG delighted to launch their new Reporting App
The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) is delighted to announce our new Reporting App for mobile devices. After a year of design, implementation and exhaustive testing, this powerful new biological recording tool is now available to download for free on the App store for iPhones and the Google Play store for Android.
Play Store Download HERE
Apple Store Download HERE
The App is designed to be used by a wide audience of citizen scientists, researchers, boat operators, wildlife enthusiasts and of course whale watchers - on land and on the water. It will elevate reporting of whales, dolphins and porpoises in Irish waters to a new level, by taking the observer logically through the steps necessary for the reporting of both sightings (casual and effort) and strandings (live and dead). No need to have mobile coverage ... the app will store your sightings and load them up when you hit a mobile network. So as sailors explore our world of oceans and seas, they can contribute to the sitings database.
“Observations of wildlife from the general public can make a valuable contribution to better understanding Ireland’s biodiversity, particularly for the marine environment where there is yet so much to learn about species and their distribution. Where this information is collected to a standard format and validated to ensure its accuracy it can be a powerful tool for citizen engagement and contributing to tracking change in marine biodiversity” Dr Liam Lysaght, Director of the National Biodiversity Data Centre
Vivienne Kelly of Compass Informatics highlighted that “the design and development of the IWDG mobile app, demonstrates a reliable way to provide amateur and expert recorders with the tools to capture and share important data on whales, dolphins, porpoises, and basking sharks in Irish waters”.
This IWDG Reporting App is aimed specifically for the recording of whales, dolphins and porpoises, and can also be used for basking shark sightings. Information collected on the IWDG Reporting App ensures robust validation of the data, essential if these records are to contribute significantly to the conservation value of every reported record. By using the IWDG Reporting App you are also contributing to Ireland’s longest continuous whale and dolphin dataset, which has been to the fore of whale and dolphin conservation and research on the Island of Ireland for over 30 years.
Dr Simon Berrow, CEO of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group says “Reliable sighting and stranding records are essential to develop conservation actions and policies, support marine tourism and enables the citizens of Ireland to experience some of the most amazing animals living in our waters”
The Reporting App also links to the iwdg.ie website which offers seamless browsing of the IWDG’s sightings and stranding datasets with online mapping.
If you would like to understand more about which fin is which and where they have been seen, then take a look at their species pages HERE.