Coral reefs are critical, and their color is fading fast. These unique ecosystems support a quarter of all marine life and are home to over 1 million species, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have found rising water temperatures are destroying them faster than coastal communities can respond, relying on reefs for food and the billions of dollars they generate globally.
Reefs break apart powerful waves during storms, protecting nearby coastline; kelp forests off the coast of San Diego serve a similar function, and have seen similar declines this year.
Samsung has collaborated with Scripps and Seatrees, a California-based conservation group, to design a new camera feature to explore how mobile technology can support reef monitoring and environment restoration efforts.
Scripps professor Stuart Sandin offered a scientist’s perspective to the planning, working closely with Samsung engineers and project director Leah Hays from Seatrees to develop this new tool.
“We need more nuanced views of how we’re going to take action, and that’s explicitly true when it comes to restoration,” said Sandin, who is part of Scripps’ Marine Biology department. “If I’m gonna invest a lot of money growing a coral to put it into the environment, I need to know that’s a good place for it to live. It’s about maximizing the chance and maximizing the value.”
Light breaks through the surface of La Jolla Cove, but does not travel far enough to illuminate the depths. Photographed using Samsung’s Ocean Mode and an underwater housing for the smartphone. (Photo by Thomas Murphy/Times of San Diego)Enter ‘Ocean Mode’
Scientists work tirelessly to uncover the mysteries of these underwater worlds, but have been limited by expensive, bulky technology. Improvements to low-cost, everyday devices have supercharged their work and created an opportunity for average people to help protect their local ecosystems.
Color and visual distortions worsen the deeper underwater a camera goes, due to limited light and disruptive currents; Samsung’s new Ocean Mode compensates for this. Now, a smartphone camera can capture detailed images below the surface.
Scientists combine hundreds to thousands of overlapping photographs, making comparisons between them to create a detailed three-dimensional model of a coral reef – a process called photogrammetry.
“Just based on the offsets from those different angles, you can reconstruct the three dimensional structure of what you’re imaging,” said Nicole Peterson, a fellow researcher with Sandin at Scripps. “It works really well for coral reefs because they’re stable; it’s doesn’t work when things are moving around.”
These models allow researchers to do “virtual field work,” taking measurements and making observations without the time and cost of repeat diving trips. Similar to satellite maps, these models show a high level of detail no matter how close or far away the viewer is.
“We focus on, ‘How big is this thing, and is it alive?'” Sandin said. “Then, the benefit you get by that comparison, ‘Do you have more structure? Do you have more places for fish to live?'”
Making multiple scans of a reef allows researchers to track changes over time, revealing the impact of response efforts.
Using photogrammetry like this isn’t new, but now it can be used at a larger scale. Expensive underwater camera equipment has been replaced with comparatively cheap smartphones – meaning more mapping can be done using the same budget.
Already, this joint initiative has mapped 86 coral reefs. Future price drops and new initiatives will boost this work, according to a Samsung representative.
Leah Hays presents the results of a successful conservation intervention, with professor Staurt Sandin holding up before (top) and after (bottom) photos. (Photo by Thomas Murphy/Times of San Diego)Disaster response
Conservationists are already applying this newfound knowledge. Through the partnership with Scripps, SeaTrees has planted more than 21,000 coral fragments and removed more than 9,000 coral predators, such as sea urchins, restoring 135,000 square meters of reef colonies across their five project sites. The company’s program director, Leah Hayes, works on the front lines of conservation efforts across 13 different countries.
“A load of what we do is financially empower groups on the ground who don’t have access to, say, larger grants and big funding bodies,” said Hays, a native Australian. “We provide them with technology, camera equipment, scientific training and technical support.”
Long lasting high temperatures struck Fiji’s coast last year, according to Hays. This caused a bleaching event, where corals are drained of their color as the microalgae living inside them – giving them their bright color – is forced to flee. Without them, coral will die off.
In Fiji, up to half of the coral died, according to Hays. However, on Seatree’s project site in Viti Lefu, only a fifth of the heat-resistant corals they developed died. These were planted using a reef model, which showed conversationists which spots had the highest chance for survival.
“I’ve also just been so impressed that this project has remained a bottom-up approach,” Hays said. “The restoration partners on the ground tell us what changes need to be made in the technology, not only to make it more usable, but accessible to a broader community – people who don’t have access to the same tools we do here in America.”
A strand of kelp floating near the surface of La Jolla Cove, photographed using Samsung’s Ocean Mode and an underwater housing for the smartphone. (Photo by Thomas Murphy/Times of San Diego)Citizen science
Universities and government laboratories dominate science, but everyday people can play a powerful role in research. Citizen science took off at the dawn of the Internet age; online platforms enable large scale collaboration with researchers.
The public’s power comes from sheer numbers and a focus on local issues, supporting research on pressing issues such as water quality and animal tracking. Smartphone apps have made it easier than ever to contribute observations.
Hays said that admires the success of iNaturalist, an online social network that uses human-monitored artificial intelligence to identify the species in submitted photographs, generating data from information gathered by users.
“At the moment, our biggest limitation is having that database already, but we are moving in that direction,” she said. “That speaks to a global, collaborative effort where information is coming from the ground and it’s feeding into the scientific institutions and restoration partners – it is driving where funding is going.”
Sandin appreciates the impact of shared data, but believes it can be amplified. Rather than coral reefs, he said, San Diegans can monitor nearby kelp forests that support local wildlife and help protect the coast. Kelp and seagrasses are much more fluid than rigid coral structures. Since Ocean Mode is limited to photos for now, it is not well suited to monitoring these ecosystems.
Sandin also hinted at a future video feature, calling it “the next goal,” that would allow science-inclined citizens to monitor kelp forest health as Scripps researchers and local conservationists help them recover.
“By adding a bit more infrastructure, starting with hardware and then getting into the software, I think we can do magic underwater,” he said.
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