Understanding constellations: The use of ‘citizen science’ to elucidate the global biology of a threatened marine mega-vertebrate

Details

• Journal Title:
  The 4th International Whale Shark Conference
• Personal Author:
  Norman, Bradley M. ; Holmberg, Jason A. ; Arzoumanian, Zaven ; Reynolds, Samantha ; Wilson, Rory P. ; Gleiss, Adrian C. ; Rob, Dani ; Pierce, Simon ; de la Parra, Rafael ; Galvan, Beatriz ; Ramirez-Macias, Deni ; Robinson, David ; Fox, Steve ; Graham, Rachel ; Rowat, David ; Potenski, Matthew ; Levine, Marie ; McKinney, Jennifer A. ; Hoffmayer, Eric ; Dove, Alistair ; Hueter, Robert ; Ponzo, Alessandro ; Araujo, Gonzalo ; Aca, Elson ; David, David ; Rees, Richard ; Duncan, Alan ; Rohner, Christoph A. ; Hearn, Alex ; Acuna, David ; Berumen, Michael L. ; Vázquez, Abraham ; Green, Jonathan ; Bach, Steffen S. ; Schmidt, Jennifer V. ; Morgan, David L.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; SEFSC (Southeast Fisheries Science Center)
• Description:
  Gathering data on the life of enigmatic animals remains a challenge, despite its important role in biodiversity conservation and management. For many species, biogeographic investigations are largely the result of information that is generated from multiple sources, often over long time-scales, because measuring biogeographic and biological data over large geographic areas is simply not feasible by a single team of researchers. But in the current age of a well-educated public and accessible and mobile digital technology, scientists are now able to harness the observations of many, thus infinitely increasing their power of observation. Despite its status as the world's largest fish, there remains a paucity of information on the biology and ecology of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus). This species is however a prime target for ‘citizen science’ monitoring because of its charismatic nature, presence at many coastal aggregation sites and the growth of ecotourism around this species.
• Source:
  The 4th International Whale Shark Conference (2016)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.5339/qproc.2016.iwsc4.38
• Format:
  pdf
• Publisher:
  Hamad bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press)
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• License:
  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Rights Information:
  CC BY
• Compliance:
  Library
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:63ba524d58fd996112c9ea82033caec5d4a1b39e095c4ec32f046e01407ae29c9e915255d77b07fbd5d2eecc54bb240f7aa58e41a5c04cf6deafef1e0933b1a9
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/69845/noaa_69845_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 113.65 KB ]