# Charity Whale Track app encourages citizen science in the Hebrides

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/08/09/charity-whale-track-app-encourages-citizen-science-hebrides/
- Published: 2017-08-09T09:00:27+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**A new app from Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust has launched to help members 
of the public and boat operators gather vital scientific data for the charity about
whales, dolphins and porpoises off Scotland’s west coast.**

Whale Track can be downloaded free from Google Play and App Store. It is designed
to provide a quick and easy way for people to report and submit their sightings 
of these species from across the Hebrides, and has been supported by a grant of 
more than £79,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Developed by mobile app 
company [Natural Apptitude](http://www.natural-apptitude.co.uk/), it is a development
of [Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust’s](http://www.hwdt.org) Community Sightings
Network, which encourages local communities, wildlife tour operators and visitors
to the area to report marine wildlife sightings.

Whale Track is designed to work at sea and in remote coastal communities where there
is often no cellular coverage, allowing boat operators, fishermen and other seafarers
to get involved, while coastal communities can report their sightings from land.

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All data collected by the app feeds into a web portal, allowing anyone to interact
with this information – including by exploring recent sightings, generating sightings
maps and discovering top-reported species. Registered users can keep a record of
what they have seen and when, and add photographs. The app also includes a species
identification guide.

Liz Bonnin, Patron of Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, said:

> “Encouraging the public to play a very real part in the protection of their local
> wildlife is essential if we are going to have any chance of safeguarding it for
> the future.
> “Thanks to great advances in technology, the Whale Track app will allow everyone
> to contribute to research, no matter how remote their location – even if they 
> are out of network or wifi coverage. It’s an exciting prospect, and a very positive
> step towards protecting this magnificent part of the planet.”

Images ©HWDT

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