Great Reef Census: Cairns tourism boats on board for huge citizen science climate change project
Every major reef tourism operator in Cairns is about to hit the water to collect data for the Great Barrier Reef’s most ambitious citizen-led research project in history.
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EVERY major reef tourism operator in Cairns is about to hit the water to collect data for the Great Barrier Reef’s most ambitious citizen-led research project in history.
Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef will launch a flotilla of more than 30 vessels across the 2300km length of the natural wonder over the coming 10 weeks, from Lady Elliot Island in the south to the remote Far North.
A project of such a scale is a world-first, with four universities on board, upwards of 100 individual “priority” reefs to be documented and, hopefully, thousands of people around the world signing up to help interpret the data from their own homes.
Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef chief executive Andy Ridley said it was inspiring to see the entire Cairns ocean tourism industry joining the fleet.
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“We’ve got Entrada, Quicksilver, Experience Co, Passions of Paradise, the superyacht group out of Cairns — it really is a joint effort,” he said. “And we’ve got some of the world’s top reef scientists on the science committee.”
Tourism and dive boats, research ships and superyachts will work collectively across the Reef to send out divers with special cameras to document the ocean floor.
Mr Ridley said it was about painting a true picture of the health of the Reef — warts and all, and without sensationalism.
“One of the aspirations is to be able to talk about the far more nuanced ‘patchwork’ story of the Reef,” he said.
“It’s got extraordinary bits and some parts that aren’t so extraordinary.
“There will be so much information coming in that, by its very nature, it is going to tell the truth about the Reef.”
A much smaller pilot census was launched in 2019, and the team hopes it will build year on year so data will be captured from many more of the Great Barrier Reef’s 3000 individual reefs.
It should provide valuable insight into how the underwater ecosystems change over time, the extent of bleaching events and the effects of climate change.
Next month, citizen scientists all over the globe will be invited to participate online by helping to analyse the thousands upon thousands of images captured.
Big numbers will be needed to volunteer to sift through the sheer volume of new data.
The dream is for each member of that growing army of citizen scientists to take on a sense of ownership of the Reef — changing their habits to help the environment and becoming ambassadors in their own communities.
“Even if they’re in lockdown in Manchester, they can help us analyse these images coming back from the Reef,” Mr Ridley said.
“One of the hard things is finding something meaningful for people to do.
“This is a way they can help even if they are on the other side of the world.”
Tourism operators have embraced the call to action, supporting the project with skilled crew time as well as spare vessel capacity due to the impacts of COVID-19.
They hope the project will help show the Reef’s enduring beauty, as well as the hurdles it faces.
Passions of Paradise owner Alan Wallish said the goal was for tourists to take part in 2021.
“Tourism is a critical part of protecting the Reef for the future. Our boat takes around 30,000 people a year to the Reef — that’s 30,000 people that are talking about the Reef for the rest of their lives and who will become ambassadors for the Reef and its protection,” he said.
The project is being delivered in partnership with the University of Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Australian Institute of Marine Science with support from James Cook University, the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Tasmania.
ALL EYES ON CENSUS
THE quality of reconnaissance data captured during the Great Reef Census and its interpretation will be closely watched by researchers around the world.
If successful, it could have huge implications for traditional scientific practices as research communities look towards citizen science to help aggregate vast pools of information.
University of Technology Sydney Associate Professor David Suggett said the immensity of the Great Barrier Reef meant many sections went largely unmonitored.
“Whilst existing survey methods have been central for informing Reef health and management decision-making for decades, we need new ‘data intensive’ methods that can fill in the many gaps we have for tracking Reef condition,” he said.
“The Great Reef Census is an innovative and timely concept to better capture the immense patchiness of Reef health over space and time, but in a way that can really capitalise on the busy footprint of those living on or visiting the Reef.”
Habitat mapping work data is currently very limited worldwide, so the introduction of citizen science could be a real breakthrough.
CLIMATE CHANGE MONITORING
CLIMATE change monitoring will be a critical element of the Great Reef Census as it becomes a growing annual event.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority chief scientist Dr David Wachenfeld said resources were stretched thin over such an extensive area.
“Given the growing impacts of climate change, and the inevitability of future impacts, it is essential that we explore innovative approaches to marine park management,” he said.
“As the traditional resources of science and marine park management become increasingly stretched, ‘citizen science’ approaches, such as the Great Reef Census, are growing in importance to help us maintain a spatially adequate and up-to-date information base for management.”
Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef CEO Andy Ridley said it would take a whole community to gather the data needed.
“To achieve the scale required this year needs a massive collective effort and that’s what we’re seeing, from the tourism industry to some of the Reef’s top scientists, tech companies and reef managers,” he said.
“In essence, we’re utilising the skills, vessels and knowledge of many passionate people to build a Reef-wide research flotilla.”
Originally published as Great Reef Census: Cairns tourism boats on board for huge citizen science climate change project