Overfishing and marine pollution top the list of the greatest threats to our ocean with climate change and sea-level rise exacerbating these problems. Consequently, this has pushed some of the most iconic marine environments such as our vibrant coral reefs and ice-capped seas to the brink of collapse. This has led to calls for improved and united conservation management plans, to fill gaps in ocean knowledge and enable conservation action worldwide.
Citizen science is defined as scientific research whereby the public collects, categorises, transcribes or analyses scientific data and offers a promising alternative to more traditional forms of scientific research. This approach is beneficial when translating research into conservation, a gap often not bridged by scientists. Data collected by local communities and citizen science initiatives can be provided for remote habitats, in real-time, and in large quantities, removing data gaps by sheer ‘man-power’. Additionally, this approach gives back by improving scientific literacy, inspiring ocean awareness, and increasing the sharing of knowledge to wider social networks. With the advent of smartphone technology, there is now much more potential for web-based citizen science, increasing speed and accessibility to a much wider audience.
Pioneered on the Great Barrier Reef, one of the most established citizen science projects is Coral Watch. This project uses a hands-on and easy to use coral health chart to compare the colour of a coral colony to colour on the chart. Each colour has an assigned code that can be input into a database, giving scientists a proxy for how healthy a coral is. The Coral Watch chart has now been used by people in over 78 countries and has taken data from greater that 1,910 reefs globally. This project has helped promote behavioural change towards a more sustainable future and has raised awareness for Australia’s beloved coral reefs.
