SeaSpotter app charity deregistered after mistake
An app that promises to build the most comprehensive marine mammal data set in New Zealand's history has had a successful first year despite some teething problems.
The SeaSpotter app, which asks for citizens to upload photos of marine mammals was launched in January last year but the Department of Conservation (DOC) says it is still working with the creators to bring the app up to standard.
The charity behind the app MAUI63, which receives public funding, has been deregistered by Charities Services for not filing annual returns since 2021, as required by law.
Co-founder Tane van der Boon said the deregistration was as a result of a “silly mistake” and an old postal address which had not been updated with Charities Services. He hoped it would be reregistered “imminently”. “Our accountant didn’t send them in. It was a mistake. We did all the paper work. It’s pretty frustrating. It was silly of us. Notices were going to the wrong address,” he said. He said the app’s data was not yet publicly available but had been shared with DOC. So far it had 932 downloads, more than 500 active users and more than 1000 public sightings including hundreds of Māui and Hectors dolphins.
When the app was first launched, MAUI63 said it would use artificial intelligence to identify the marine mammals, but that function is not yet in operation, except to catalogue Māui dolphins by their fins.
Van der Boon said the app relied on users to tag the animal type but the next release before the end of June would attempt to classify the animal type and species using an AI model trained to spot whales, seals and dolphins.
He said MAUI63 was working on updates, some of which required detailed planning and design work.
“There are always going to be minor hiccups and challenges in the early stages of a new app’s release. With SeaSpotter, this has largely been things like bug fixes and unplanned features needing to be added, but nothing has been insurmountable,” he said.
He said MAUI63 was a not-for-profit organisation focused on helping protect marine life, especially native Māui with the help of a small group of dedicated staff and volunteers. “All funding goes directly to people doing actual work to either fly drones or engineer software and products to support data collection of marine mammals and make this available to everyone that needs it,” he said.
Sea Spotter is a joint initiative between the Department of Conservation, WWF, Christchurch City Council, the Ministry of Primary Industries, MAUI63 and Microsoft.
Smart Christchurch Manager Michael Healy said Christchurch City Council had spent $45,000 on the app and was pleased with the usage.
“We think this is a great result given this is cutting edge technology and we are effectively still in a trial and development phase with limited marketing,” he said.
“We believe with the upcoming marketing campaign planned, numbers will substantially increase.”
DOC’s Marine Technical Advisor Hannah Hendriks said DOC had contributed $40,000 to date and would contribute an ongoing $9000 for annual maintenance.
“We are still working together to bring the app to standard and it will be our preferred way of collecting marine mammal sightings,” she said.
Van der Boon sent The Press the annual returns it had failed to file in 2022 and 2023. It received almost $300,000 in 2023, including more than $200,000 in donations, in 2023 and spent more than $260,000.
In 2022, it received more than $180,000 in donations, and spent more than $150,000.