Great Barrier Reef case study
Visitors to the Great Barrier Reef are becoming citizen scientists, helping collect information about the area’s precious marine life through the Australian Government supported Sightings initiative.
Sightings is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Eye on the Reef monitoring programme that enables anyone who visits the reef to contribute to its long-term protection.
Manta Ray<br /> (Photo: Commonwealth of Australia (GBRMPA))
`The Great Barrier Reef is roughly the size of Italy, so capturing regular and up to date information about its marine life is a challenge,’ the authority’s Fiona Merida said.
`Marine animals don’t stay in one place, they move around, which means collecting information about their habitats and habits can be difficult,’ Fiona said.
`Some species are regularly spotted while others are much harder to locate. Getting accurate information across the reef’s entire 2300 kilometres is important to our understanding and protection of its ecosystem. Given its size no one organisation can monitor the Great Barrier Reef on its own.
`Sightings began in 2007 with tourism staff along the Great Barrier Reef and quickly spread to other reef visitors,’ Fiona said. Since then it has gone one step further, thanks to an ingenuous solution suited to the age of social media and the `selfie’.
A free smart phone app can now be downloaded so that anyone out on the reef—whether they’re on a boat, snorkelling, diving, or fishing—can record and report what they’re seeing in real time. It also uploads pictures so the photographer can share sightings with Facebook friends.
‘Having people out on the water as our eyes and ears taking photographs and sending them in to us is a practical way to expand our information. We’ve had more than 12 000 sightings of 300 different species throughout the Great Barrier Reef. The app also has more than 270 species listed, with information about their GPS position, habitat, behaviour and size as well as images and videos—all captured by those out on the water.’
The information recorded in Sightings and the broader Eye on the Reef programme helps scientists and government authorities understand what animals live in particular locations, how often they’re seen and when they’re likely to be seen.
`We had a report from the Whitsundays with a photo of a sperm whale from a visiting cruising yacht. Fishers have even reported a New Zealand fur seal sunning itself near the jetty at Lucinda—the first-ever sighting of a fur seal,’ Fiona said.
`The programme stores the largest and most comprehensive collection of observations of protected and iconic species on the Great Barrier Reef.’
Thanks to Sightings and keen-eyed visitors, Eye on the Reef has recorded:
- 25 whalesharks throughout the Great Barrier Reef
- 107 dugongs
- 2728 humpback whales, identifying the Whitsundays and offshore Port Douglas as critical breeding areas for these majestic marine mammals
- 256 dolphin sightings across seven species
- 1000 turtle sightings including green turtles, hawksbill turtles and loggerhead turtles as well as some sightings of flatback, leatherback and olive ridley turtles.
So the next time you say ‘cheese’ to a shark or snap a snapper, you’re helping scientists and the Australian Government understand more about the Great Barrier Reef’s precious wildlife.
Further information
For more information on Eye on the Reef and Sightings go to www.gbrmpa.gov.au/managing-the-reef/how-the-reefs-managed/eye-on-the-reef/report-sightings