Whale Watch Screensaver
The Whale Watch screensaver plots recent, scientifically verified whale and dolphin sightings on a world map, pulsing in live and key-less from GBIF, the global open biodiversity data network. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the Whale Watch screensaver works
The saver queries GBIF's occurrence API for the most recent verified cetacean records worldwide, with no key required.
Each sighting pulses onto a world map at its recorded coordinates, colored by species, then fades as newer ones arrive.
A running tally counts sightings by species since you started watching.
Pick humpback, blue whale or orca, or leave it on all cetaceans for the full mix.
A worked example
Set it to Humpback whale during their migration season and dots cluster off Hawaii, Australia and Alaska — the real known breeding and feeding grounds.
Settings & tips
- Species narrows the map to one cetacean.
- Accent recolours the pulse dots.
- Fewer dots for deep-diving species is real reporting frequency, not a broken feed.
Frequently asked questions
- Are these live tag pings?
- No — GBIF aggregates verified sighting and stranding records from researchers and whale-watch operators, refreshed continuously but not a live GPS tag feed.
- Is a key needed?
- No. GBIF's public API is free and key-less.
- Why do sightings cluster seasonally?
- Real migration timing — whales concentrate in feeding and breeding grounds at predictable times of year.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, in your browser.