Saving Whales Contentiously

Saving the whales with image processing

At the moment, only 500 North Atlantic right whales are left in the world. To ensure the survival of this endangered species, marine biologists are tracking all of them to know their status and health at all times. However, manual recognition is tricky and very few researchers can perform it on the fly [1]. In this project, we implement a whale recognition system that allows researchers to reli...

Saving endangered whales at no cost

The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most critically endangered marine species. Drastic overexploitation has driven this large, slow-swimming baleen whale to virtual extinction in Europe, while a small remnant population of ~350 individuals remains on the US and Canadian east coast. Although this species has been protected for 70 years, recovery has been slight and extinction is still l...

Saving money, saving lives.

In 1996, Duke Children's Hospital was in serious trouble. Its $11 million annual operating loss had forced administrators to make cutbacks. As a result, some caregivers felt that the quality of care had deteriorated. Parents' complaints were on the rise. Frustrated staff members were quitting. In this article, Jon Meliones, DCH's chief medical director, candidly describes how his debt-ridden ho...

Minke Whales

Beaked whales

with other cats. Finally, cats need to read and understand human behaviour better (which is where dogs have really excelled). Bradshaw argues that early socialisation and training can help achieve some of these goals, but that we should also consider selective breeding of behaviour. Controversially, the author is suggesting that widespread neutering in the UK be relaxed, arguing that the practi...