Coral Monitoring in the Great Barrier Reef
Project Overview:
The Coral Sea Foundation (CSF) collaborates with the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Sea Women of Melanesia on the development of the ReefCloud.Ai artificial intelligence system for analyzing and sharing reef survey imagery. The CSF collects monitoring images at several sites on the Great Barrier Reef and are keen to extend the geographic extent of this survey network.
Program Partners
- The Coral Sea Foundation
- The Australian Institute of Marine Science
- The Sea Women of Melanesia
Location
- Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea
Expected Time Frame
- Ongoing
Duration of Expedition
- As available
Accommodation Needed
- 1 Researcher and 1 SeaKeeper
Special Equipment Needed
- Swim platform (hydraulic or stationary) or easy access to water; access to tender or smaller vessel; lazarette or storage compartment for certain equipment.
Expedition parameters listed above are flexible and negotiable.
Background:
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park covers a vast area, and the 3000 reefs in the system are undergoing frequent and rapid changes. High quality monitoring data is essential to understand the overall condition of the reef, yet government institutions are only able to regularly survey about 20% of the Marine Park in any given year. Contributions of monitoring data from reefs outside the major institutional monitoring programs therefore play an important part in enhancing the overall understanding of the Great Barrier Reef and its condition, and modern tech such as underwater cameras and ReefCloud.Ai allows those contributions to be more accurate than ever.
Mission:
The goals of this research are to extend the reef monitoring network to reefs outside the current institutional monitoring programs, collect and publicize data on reef condition, and leverage the power of A.I. to significantly speed up the image analysis process to more quickly monitor these crucial yet rapidly deteriorating ecosystems.
Applications:
Coral reefs around the world are dying due to increased global temperatures, pollution, and other anthropogenic causes. The deterioration of coral reefs can be captured over time through photographs and videos, and the new incorporation of AI allows researchers to more accurately understand and predict the ways our reefs will change and be shaped in the future. This knowledge will help researchers and policy makers better understand the conservation efforts that must be implemented to protect coral reefs and ultimately the biodiversity of the ocean as a whole.
Program Partners:
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