whales-identification

Dataset License

Data Sources and Licensing

This project uses training and evaluation data from two primary sources, each with its own licensing terms. Users must comply with BOTH licenses when using this project.

1. Happy Whale Dataset

License: CC-BY-NC-4.0

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International

Source

License Terms Summary

✅ Permitted:

❌ Prohibited:

📝 Required:

Full License Text

Attribution Format

When using Happy Whale data, include the following attribution:

Happy Whale Dataset
Source: https://happywhale.com
License: CC-BY-NC-4.0
© Happy Whale contributors

2. Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology RF Dataset

License: Government Data with Restrictions

Source

License Terms

The data provided by the Ministry of Natural Resources RF is subject to the following terms:

✅ Permitted:

❌ Prohibited:

📝 Required:

Attribution Format

When using Ministry data, include the following attribution:

Marine Mammal Observation Data
Source: Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation
Provided for: EcoMarineAI Research Project (2024)
License: Government Data for Research Purposes

Contact for Data Access

For inquiries about data access, permissions, or reporting:

Combined Dataset

Composition

The combined dataset used in this project consists of:

Resolution and Quality

Data Processing

Data preprocessing includes:

Usage Restrictions Summary

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Combined License Effect

Since this project combines data under CC-BY-NC-4.0 (Happy Whale) and Government Restrictions (Ministry RF), users must comply with the MOST RESTRICTIVE terms:

Use Case Permitted? Notes
Academic Research ✅ Yes Must attribute both sources
Educational Use ✅ Yes In accredited institutions
Conservation Projects ✅ Yes Non-profit only
Commercial Products ❌ No Prohibited by both licenses
Open Source Tools ✅ Yes For non-commercial use only
Scientific Publications ✅ Yes Must attribute both sources
Government Monitoring ✅ Yes With proper authorization
Startups/Companies ❌ No Unless explicit permission obtained

Data Anonymization and Privacy

Location Data

Photographer Privacy

Endangered Species Protection

Citation Requirements

For Scientific Publications

When publishing research using this dataset, cite:

@dataset{whales_dataset_2024,
  title = {Combined Marine Mammal Dataset for EcoMarineAI},
  author = {Baltsat, Konstantin and Tarasov, Artem and Vandanov, Sergey and Serov, Alexandr},
  title = {Combined Marine Mammal Dataset for EcoMarineAI},
  year = {2024},
  note = {Dataset combining Happy Whale (CC-BY-NC-4.0) and Ministry RF data},
  howpublished = {Data provided by Happy Whale community and Ministry of Natural Resources RF},
  url = {https://github.com/0x0000dead/whales-identification}
}

For General Use

Minimum attribution text:

Data Sources:
1. Happy Whale (https://happywhale.com) — CC-BY-NC-4.0
2. Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation

Project: EcoMarineAI Whale Identification
GitHub: https://github.com/0x0000dead/whales-identification

Commercial Licensing

Obtaining Commercial Rights

If you wish to use this data for commercial purposes, you MUST:

  1. Contact Happy Whale:
    • Email: support@happywhale.com
    • Request commercial licensing for their dataset portion
    • Negotiate terms and fees (if applicable)
  2. Contact Ministry of Natural Resources RF:
    • Submit formal request through official channels
    • Provide detailed use case and business plan
    • Obtain written permission
    • Comply with any monitoring or reporting requirements
  3. Notify This Project:
    • Inform us if you obtain commercial rights
    • We may need to update license documentation

Commercial Use Examples Requiring Permission:

Data Quality and Limitations

Known Limitations

Quality Metrics

Updates and Maintenance

Data Updates

Version Control

Reporting Data Issues

If you identify errors in the data (misidentifications, quality issues):

Ethical Considerations

Marine Mammal Welfare

Data Collection Ethics

Responsible AI Development

Compliance with GDPR and Data Protection

No Personal Data

This dataset contains NO personally identifiable information (PII):

European Union GDPR

Russian Federation Data Laws

Disclaimer

THE DATA IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE DATA PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY ARISING FROM THE USE OF THE DATA.

Data Accuracy: While efforts have been made to ensure data quality, misidentifications and errors may exist. Always validate critical findings with expert review.

Conservation Impact: This data is shared in good faith for marine mammal conservation. Users are expected to act responsibly and ethically.

License Version History

Version Date Changes
1.0 January 2025 Initial license documentation

Last Updated: January 2025 Maintained By: EcoMarineAI Project Team Contact: https://github.com/0x0000dead/whales-identification/issues

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