The vastness of the ocean can be hard to comprehend–it covers the majority of the planet. There are hundreds of thousands of miles of coastline, and a great diversity of marine ecosystems, animals, climates, and habitats. The reality is that there is simply not enough manpower in the field of marine science to appropriately track, record, and study what’s happening underwater.

Research that does happen in marine science is often private and difficult to access. It is performed by academic or scientific institutions that are rarely able to demonstrate their findings in a free and easily accessible manner. Because it is private, this research may be subject to bias or technical failure.

Scientific data can also be super expensive to gather. There are costs associated with the tools, equipment, transportation, software, and labour force needed to collect and analyse data. It usually costs money to even read peer-reviewed journal articles online, not to mention the many months and hours it takes to publish one of these academic papers in a reputable journal. These high costs keep scientific research in a silo, away from communities that need to be a part of the conversation.

Enter the idea of citizen science. Information is power, but if it stays locked in a tower, no one can use it. Citizen science programs and initiatives decentralise the power of information, transforming data collection into a collaborative process between many parties. They allow trained scientists, experienced seamen, coastal communities, and other stakeholders to work together on ocean research. An added benefit is that, with citizen science projects, all kinds of knowledge are valued, rather than just traditional, academic, peer-reviewed kind.

At SEAstream #29 this week, February 23rd, we’ll be presenting a well-established citizen science program that has been working for nearly 20 years to decentralise the collection of important coral reef health indicators. CoralWatch, based in The University of Queensland, developed a tool for collecting scientific data on coral bleaching. Because no prior training or knowledge is needed to use their Coral Health Chart tool, anyone can be a part of the data collection process. All of their data is displayed in an interactive online space and database, which can provide up-to-date data on reef conditions around the world.

CoralWatch provides an excellent example of the power of citizen participation in the scientific process. The hands-on experience of data collection can be an inspiring lesson in sustainability in itself. The data is often collected by people who know the area best, raising awareness about conservation and encouraging behaviour change. When science becomes so far removed from regular people, it often loses the power of what could make it useful. Citizen science brings this power into people’s hands.

SEA fully understands the need for a fast, free, accurate, and accessible way to monitor as many environmental indicators and variables as possible. In order to track the developing climate crisis, and its impact on our seas, we are building the SEA Nexus: a revolutionary system for environmental data collection that will utilise the power of AI and smartphones to bring data-collecting power to the people. Read more about the SEA Nexus, and what we’re working on, here.

Want to join in on the discussion of citizen science to help save our seas? Tune in on our Instagram (@sea_token) live for SEAstream #29 on February 23rd at 12:00pm, UTC. We’ll be interviewing Sophie Kalkowski-Pope from CoralWatch, a citizen science organisation, collecting worldwide data on the health of coral reefs.

Send us your questions for SEAstream #29 with Sophie from CoralWatch on Twitter (@sea_token), and you’ll have a chance to win $20 worth of $SEA. See you there!