How would you want to identify sharks from the comfort of your own home?
volunteers need to identify sharks, skates, and rays off the coast of Wales.
More than 90 hours of the footage must be logged to construct a picture of species variety.
Sharks Inspiring Action and Research with Communities (SIARC) is a partnership between Natural Resources Wales, the Zoological Society of London, and Gwynedd residents.
During the summer of 2022 remote underwater cameras captured protected and critically endangered animals in a designated conservation area off the coast of the Llyn Peninsula.
Previously restricted to researchers, the film is now accessible to everybody via the Instant Wild website.
These “citizen scientists” are requested to record the types of sharks, skates. And rays they observe, saving researchers a substantial amount of time and effort.
The Zoological Society of London’s Joanna Barker stated, “We’ll have a scientist analyze all the footage. But citizen scientists will be the validators.
We will be able to compare the scores and data of both scientists and citizen scientists. Which will greatly improve the scientific data produced by this initiative.
Mr. Thomson has been using the Instant Wild app to record exotic species for ten years.
He stated, “I’d love to see an angel shark – that’s what the project is all about. And they are really rare.
I’ll be astonished if we see any, and I’d be thrilled to see a basking shark.
However, there are plenty of other activities to keep you engaged. Any shark, skate, or ray captured by these cameras will be incredibly fascinating.
Jake Davies grew up raised on the Llyn Peninsula and currently serves as the project coordinator for SIARC. Assisting with the installation of underwater cameras.
Fishing crews assisted him in locating the most active areas. And he stated that the footage revealed a hitherto undiscovered world.
Studying sharks:
“Every time we mention that we are studying sharks. Many people are startled to hear that there are sharks off the coast of Wales,” he said.
However, Wales is home to around 25 shark species, ranging from one of the rarest in the world. The angel shark, to one of the largest, the basking shark.
Whether it is crabs fighting sharks or curious conger eels, the initiative has provided the public with breathtaking images.
Now, scientists want to obtain the clearest picture possible of life on the ocean floor.
