Support Happywhale
Happywhale combines citizen science, artificial intelligence (powered by clean energy), and global collaboration to track, identify, and protect the world's whales. We're one of the largest whale photo-identification databases on earth — and every photo you contribute helps write a whale's life story. Your support makes this transformative science possible.
Every contribution directly supports the transformative technology, science, and people behind Happywhale's mission.
Ways to support Happywhale:
If knowing the identities, travels, and life histories of whales adds value to your life, consider helping make that possible for everyone. Recurring gifts sustain long-term research.
Become a Monthly SupporterDonate $500 or more — or $100/month for six months — and you'll have the opportunity to name a whale. Follow "your" whale throughout their lifetime! A whale adoption makes a beautiful gift or a meaningful way to honor someone's memory — many in our community choose this as a lasting tribute to a loved one.
Have You Named a Whale?Get instant app-based access to ID your whales and support the AI technology that powers real-time whale identification for researchers, naturalists, and operators around the world. You can photograph a whale, snap a pic of the back of your camera, and have an ID in a minute!
Learn About WhaleIDWe provide powerful tools to help whale watch naturalists and nature expedition guides better know about and communicate the stories of the whales they encounter.
Because every whale photo can become a conservation story. The next discovery could come from a photo you upload — or a project your support makes possible.
See the Impact Below ↓
Happywhale is a team using AI to improve conservation science by investing in people. By automating the most time-intensive part of photo-identification, we've cut image-processing time by 99.9% — a 1000× acceleration. But the technology serves the science, not the other way around: our work is for people, by people.
An expert human matcher confirms every single match. Keeping people at the center safeguards scientific integrity, supports learning, and values the ocean-loving community that makes this work possible.
Our 16-person team at Happywhale — scientists, programmers, and data managers — are deeply grateful for your support and the investment in our work.
Happywhale is more than a database. Our data actively informs conservation decisions, vessel policies, and research around the globe.
A whale who was mostly disentangled from fishing gear disappeared. No one knew if they survived. Seven years later, a whale watcher uploaded a photo to Happywhale. The match confirmed the whale was alive and thriving — still to this day!
View this whale's record →Tenakee Turkey has been tracked across more than 180 documented encounters since 2004. When this beloved whale became severely entangled, Happywhale's long-term record helped document the full story — and a remarkable recovery.
View this whale's record →
Happywhale is pioneering a new era of ocean science — where transformative AI, global community collaboration, and decades of whale data converge to answer questions that scientists and whale lovers have always dreamed of answering — but never could, until now. The projects below are at the cutting edge of marine conservation, each one building toward a future where no whale is unknown and no ocean goes unwatched.
Our Global Reach
Whales of Guerrero is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the research, conservation, and protection of whales and their ocean habitats in the waters of Guerrero, Mexico and beyond. Their work bridges local communities, scientists, and global conservation efforts — ensuring that the whales of the Pacific are known, monitored, and protected for generations to come. As Happywhale's fiscal sponsor, Whales of Guerrero ensures that every donation flows directly into conservation science that makes a real difference. All donations are tax deductible.
Learn More About Whales of Guerrero →
Help us raise $600,000 for
global whale conservation
Photography © Colleen Talty / Monterey Bay Whale Watch. All rights reserved.
