Promoting Coral Sustainability Through Citizen Science
Using the power of the crowd to integrate monitoring of coral health into regular economic activities
Coral reefs provide coastal communities with shoreline protection, food, and tourism. These benefits have been estimated to produce economic value of between US$30 billion (WMO-No. 1063) and US$375 billion (US NOAA, 15 Nov 2010) annually. Coral reefs also directly support the most biodiverse coastal ecosystems on the planet. However, the health and continued existence of coral reefs worldwide is under serious threat due to the effects of climate change, destructive fishing, reckless tourism practices, and pollution.
Our solution is to empower coastal communities with the means of monitoring coral health using a novel underwater camera mounting system for small watercraft. The mounting system is attachable to a range of small watercraft regularly used in fishing and tourism around coral reefs such as boats, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, and canoes. A unique feature of the system’s design is that it can be detached and reattached without any permanent or special alterations to the watercraft. It therefore becomes a low-cost option to add stable, underwater photography to any small watercraft.
Once distributed to coastal stakeholders such as tour operators, fishers, and aquaculture farmers, this product facilitates the passive collection of valuable biological data. It also acts as a direct supplement to the income of tour operators when it is rented to customers, who during activities such as kayaking tours receive memorable images of the coral reefs they have visited. By increasing the visibility of coral reefs, this product can enhance people’s appreciation of these environments and be marketable as an eco-tourism asset, as it has no negative impact on the reef environment. A principal problem highlighted by marine conservation agencies is that underwater ecosystems are “out of sight, out of mind”. Our product increases visibility of a vulnerable ecosystem that much of the public are unwilling to enter directly through snorkeling or SCUBA diving. This system represents less risk of direct contact with the reef which can be damaging to the ecosystem as well as the individual.
This system has been designed with the aid of experienced coral ecologists in order to ensure that the image quality meets modern survey standards. Therefore, all photography of coral taken using this system will be suitable for addition to a public, international scientific database of coral reefs. This database can process submitted photos using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to identify coral species and health. Thus, all users of this system also have an additional incentive: they can have their photos automatically analysed to help them identify and learn more about the coral they have photographed. Plus, they also get the unique opportunity to contribute to a worldwide scientific effort to help monitor coral health.
The combination of these direct benefits to a wide range of watercraft users around coral reefs will help to promote environmental awareness and sustainability. Increased public understanding and involvement with coral science as well as the potential to collect large amounts of data from remote and understudied environments will be vital to combat global trends in coral ecosystem collapse.
- Restoring and preserving coastal ecosystems
- Using data to help people make development decisions

