Online Collaboration Taps Animal Protection
Online Collaboration Taps Animal Protection
September/October Edition, 2007:Just like the stars above us, Whale Sharks have a unique constellation of patterns identifying each from the next. With the power of online social collaboration, passion for the species and a mathematical formula from NASA, marine scientists are on the ball to track the movement of creatures online and secure their future.
First sighted off the coast of South Africa in 1828, the whale shark is the gentle beast of the ocean, remaining silent to the land-based world. With just 320 confirmed sightings in those first 160 years, tracking and monitoring the state of the endangered species has eluded marine scientists for decades.
It’s a species facing the threat of extinction, and even though hunting is banned in most countries and its trade highly restricted, protecting the species requires some innovative thinking. Breakthrough technology could hold the key and pioneer a new means to protecting an endangered species through collaborative management of information online.
Whale sharks capture the imaginations of people everywhere and it’s only natural for marine tourists and scientists to collaborate on their information. “People take photos because they’re such beautiful animals,” says Brad Norman, marine scientist and founder of the ECOCEAN Whale Shark Photo-identification Library. “But these people may not realise the information can actually be used by scientists and conservationists to better understand this poorly understood species.”
This understanding comes from the ECOCEAN photo-identification library developed by Norman, along with his tech junky Jason Holmberg and NASA astrophysicist Zaven Arzoumanian. Using images from contributors all over the globe, the library identifies unique skin patterns behind the gills of each whale shark to distinguish between individual animals.
By adapting a mathematical formula commonly used by the Hubble Space Telescope for scientists used to recognise star patterns, the library deploys rapid identification, pattern recognition and photo management tools. Like stars in the sky, whale sharks also have a unique constellation of white spots on their skin, trademarks captured by volunteer divers across the globe who can then recognise and monitor sharks online at www.whaleshark.org. Recording the sightings and updated the progress allows marine scientists to get a good indication of Whale Shark numbers while also identifying their behavioural patterns and movement.
Online, it’s a form of ‘social networking’ that allows people to not just appreciate the rare species, but to also collaborate on the data available to track its progress. “It gets people involved in citizen sites which I think is an untapped resource and a definite way forward for species monitoring in the future,” says Norman. “We’ve really only just scrapped the barrel of this, initiated a system, proved and tested it can work.”
“It’s a great community,” continues Norman. “It’s a way of involving people by grabbing the information they have and getting them involved in community monitoring without them even realising they’re taking part in it.”
Norman first made use of the library off the coast of Ningaloo in northwest Australia, where his team have already managed to log 420 sharks online. “We’re seeing some sharks returning year after year, while others are completely new additions,” he says. The project has already been taken to other parts of globe with sharks logged online sighted in the Philippines, Honduras, Mexico and Belize. Meanwhile with the level of enthusiasm generated by divers internationally, Norman expects the library to soon receive images from other popular marine spots including Thailand, Taiwan, the Maldives, Indonesia, India, the Red Sea and Africa.
It’s the data that could well save the life of the Whale Shark. Norman campaigns for their protection with the solid argument the shark earns more from tourism dollars than it can from meat. This premise is already paying off; the Philippines, Indian and Taiwanese Governments have all recently agreed to outlaw the hunting of whale sharks.
“We’re starting to get a much better picture on the whale shark’s global population and conservation status. Till now it was a pure guess,” says Norman. “Now thanks to our volunteers and their cameras, we are gathering standardised data from all over the world.”
If funding permits, Norman believes the technology can be adapted to photographically identify the distinctive marks of other forms of wildlife. Like birdwatchers have for some time collaborated on providing global conservation data for migratory birds, social networking tools on the Internet could form the groundwork for monitoring numbers and patterns. “Potentially any animal which can be recognised from unique markings on its body can be identified using a simply camera, provided it is photographed in a particular way,” says Norman. “So it could be adapted to say African wild dogs, cheetahs, the splotch patterns on blue whales and even whisker patterns on lions.”
Meanwhile, technology has made further leaps for the protection of endangered species through motion sensors that can record an animal’s daily activity, and stream the results online. Norman joined forces with Rory Wilson from the UK in 2006, developer of a wildlife specific monitor that can detect an animal’s heat rate, feeding, speed, energy expenditure and other movements. With results on energy use, biologists can determine the health and state of endangered animals.
According to Norman, it’s the Internet that’s elevated the project especially through its ability to harvest collaboration. “Until now, most field work on wild animals has been done by scientists and their helpers,” he says. “The whale shark project proves that ordinary people can play an important part in helping to conserve wildlife, an protect the oceans – by becoming ECOCEAN ‘Research Assistants’ throughout the world.”
“It’s a beautiful alliance,” he says. “For the first time we have a real chance to understand the natural behaviour of this magnificent animal, even when it is deep down and out of sight.”
It’s not just these great beasts of the water that will benefit, but even the state of the ocean itself. A whale shark uses gill rakers and filter-feeders to sieve krill, small fish and other sea life to feed itself. With an instinct for locating food concentrations, researchers believe following the movement of animal, could provide insight into the overall health of the ocean.