Whale Spotter

Inspiration

Whale migrations through Timor-Leste are incredible to witness, but most sightings vanish as memories. I wanted a simple way for people on boats to not only log what they see, but also identify whales more easily with two perspectives: a boat view for real-world spotting, and a scientific view for more detailed confirmation. At the end of the season, these logs can be turned into a report that shows the bigger story of the whales passing by.

What it does

Whale Spotter helps users identify whales from the perspective of a boat, log GPS sightings with timestamps, and save them locally. Sightings can be uploaded later when WiFi is available, allowing seasonal data to be collected and compiled into a report.

How we built it

• Frontend: React Native + Expo for fast cross-platform development.
  
• Storage: Local device storage with syncing to a Railway-hosted backend when online.
  
• Features:
  
  • Whale ID visuals with both boat-view and scientific-view modes.
    
  • Offline GPS logging of sightings.
    
  • Upload options for generating end-of-season summaries.
    

Challenges we ran into

• Connectivity: Designing an app that works fully offline and syncs seamlessly later.
  
• User experience: Balancing scientific accuracy with simplicity so anyone on a boat can use it.
  
• Data flow: Making sure sightings can be easily compiled into a seasonal report without overwhelming the user.
  

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Built a working offline-first logging system in Expo.
  
• Created whale ID visuals tailored for both boat-view spotting and scientific reference.
  
• Designed the foundation for generating seasonal reports from community data.
  

What we learned

• Offline-first design is essential in regions with limited connectivity.
  
• A field-guide style interface is more engaging and practical than a generic app design.
  
• Thinking in terms of seasonal datasets changes how you approach storage, syncing, and reporting.
  

What's next for Whale Spotter

The next step is to build automatic reporting tools, charts, heatmaps, and timelines that summarize all logged sightings at the end of each season. This will turn community contributions into a clear, visual story of whale activity in Timor-Leste’s waters.

Built With

• expo-location-api
• expo.io
• filesystem
• javascript
• node.js
• postgresql
• railway
• react-native
• revenuecat
• typescript