To help the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) thrive, scientists need upto-date insights. However, continuously capturing and analysing images from the world’s largest coral ecosystem — that’s bigger than Italy and visible from space — requires more resources than what today’s scientists have. The need for insights and resources sparked the creation of the organisation Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef (Citizens). Andy Ridley, CEO and founder of Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, explains, “Previously, researchers have only been able to monitor around 5–10% of the 3,000 individual reefs [in the GBR], making informed conservation decisions difficult.” He adds, “There’s a really urgent need for broadscale reconnaissance imagery.”
To create a visual map of the entire reef and accelerate image analysis, Citizens encourages global volunteers to help. Tourists, fishermen, commercial boats and sailors can capture and upload images as part of its annual Great Reef Census. To efficiently store, manage and analyse reef data, Citizens partners with Dell Technologies.