SPECIAL REPORT
JAMES DEVOY ON OCEAN CITIZEN SCIENCE
The notion of conducting scientific research on board can sound intimidating. It conjures up images of experts in white coats, working in clinical laboratories. The idea that the average sailor can carry out meaningful experiments on a conventional yacht, without special equipment or giving up all their precious sailing time, might seem far-fetched. However, with so many ‘citizen science’ projects appealing for volunteer sailors to help them gather data there are an increasing number of opportunities to embrace your inner marine biologist.
Given the relative difficulty of getting out to sea for any length of time and the enormous size of the world’s oceans it's easy to see why marine scientists face particular challenges in collecting sufficient data, but this is where bluewater sailors may be able to help.
Changes in the ocean can have enormous effects on land, from weather patterns to food production to travel. When famed sailor and
ARC founder Jimmy Cornell set out to update his book Cornell’s Ocean Atlas he was shocked by the changes to currents in the ocean that had occurred even in his own lifetime. He was moved to add the following to the introduction of the
2nd edition: 'Sailors are far more aware of what’s happening out in the oceans, and don’t question that change is taking place, [they] just simply deal with it. And anyone who doesn’t believe it’s happening should just go out and sail the Northwest Passage.'
Cornell’s work has long included mapping changes that are occurring to the ocean environment and climate. To this end he reached out to several scientific organisations, and on his 2014 Aventura IV expedition participated in the Secchi Disk Foundation's study.
The Secchi Disk Foundation's study is a long-term citizen science project which has just entered its 10th year. The programme studies the density of phytoplankton in the world's oceans, which are essential to every part of sea life as well as our own on earth.
Phytoplankton is responsible for the photosynthesis process which produces oxygen. It was a paper released in Nature magazine 12 years ago that showed the microscopic marine life’s numbers had declined by 40% that spurred former research fellow of the Royal Society, Dr Richard Kirby, to found the Secchi Disk study.
LONG TERM PROJECT
“Phytoplankton is the grass of the sea,” explains Dr Kirby. “Not only does it give us the oxygen we breathe, it feeds giant whales, it feeds the fish that feed birds and seals, and the polar bears that feed on the seals. It's a linchpin of the world's ecosystem.”
He says that citizen science has many advantages over standard research methods. “It's very hard to find funding for large research projects, especially if you need to hire a research vessel to go to the deep ocean.
"On top of that it's hard to find funding to return to the same place. When applying for a grant people are always looking for something new, but for many sailors it is normal to return to the same places again and again and so it's a great resource for collecting data on the change in the environment in that location. Sailors that regularly make transatlantic crossings, for example, are a great resource.”
Golden Globe Race competitor Susie Goodall took a Secchi disk with her when she was making a transatlantic crossing in preparation for the race. She recalls: “About halfway across from Antigua the water very dramatically changed colour and the readings went from 50-60m
Lagoon has partnered with Animamundi Ocean Data Solutions to provide Lagoon catamaran owners with drones and AI technology to photograph and map plastic pollution on coastlines. See oceandatasolutions.org
Secchi Disk Foundation secchidiskfoundation.org
Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust hwdt.org
Kwajalein Underwater
Photographic record of marine life in the Marshall Islands. underwaterkwaj.com
• Redmap
Australian marine life mapping redmap.org.au
Adventure Scientists
Citizen science projects including coral mapping in Mexico adventurescientists.org
Seakeepers’ SARAH initiative Onboard kit to conduct experiments, plus hosting opportunities. seakeepers.org
Plymouth Marine Laboratory Numerous projects with a range of volunteer options. pml.ac.uk
Debris Tracker
App for tracking ocean plastics debristracker.org
Globe Observer
Mixing photography and satellite images to map weather patterns. observer.globe.gov
The National Ocean Service
Home of several marine citizen science projects running in the US. oceanservice.noaa.gov
Marine Biological Association
UK sea life and non-native species survey. mba.ac.uk/citizen-science
European Marine Board
Lots of activities and webinars. marineboard.eu/activities
Manta Trust
Taking photos of manta rays to identify migration patterns. mantatrust.org/idthemanta
• Just One Ocean
Includes a microplastics survey. justoneocean.org