A technique called cloud science that utilizes photographs and movies of the net for research on wildlife science

ByDidrik Johnck

In order to study the ecology of wild animals it is necessary to investigate with the target animals in the habitat in a habitat, so a huge research expenditure is necessary, and a patron who understands the importance of zoology development (fund provider ) Is indispensable for its existence. However, in recent years, by exploiting huge amounts of data such as photographs and movies uploaded countlessly on the Internet, it is possible to discover new findings while compensating for lack of fundsCloud Science"Has greatly contributed to the research and development of wildlife studies.

Wildbook for Whale Sharks Photo-identification Library
http://www.whaleshark.org/

Contributing to wildlife research in cloud science | National Geographic (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC) Official site in Japan
http://nationalgeographic.jp/nng/article/20150117/432142/

"Wildbook for Whale Sharks"Was established for the purpose of contributing to the development of the whale shark research, it is a site that not only researchers but also general people can post eyewitness information, photos and movies about the whale shark, since it was opened in 2003, it has been posted year by year The number of reports increased. Currently 53,000 photographs and 25,000 sighting information are gathered and used for 4000 research data.


Posts made by ordinary citizens may contain information that greatly reverses the conventional legendary view. For example, when it is thought that a whale shark only lives in warm seas such as the Gulf of Mexico and the Indian Ocean, in July 2014, information was received from the general public as "witnessed the whale shark in New Jersey on the East Coast of the United States of America" He said that he surprised the researchers greatly. Project to study wild animalsWild MeMr. Jason Holmberg was surprised at the appearance of the whale shark in such north and checked for the facts that are backing up and found that a movie of the whale shark witnessed in New Jersey has been uploaded to YouTube Discovered. I learned that the submission contents are facts.

Swimming with a whale shark ... florida keys August 2013 - YouTube


To investigate the ecology of wildlife so far, it was common to actually go to observation in the habitat, or attach a sensor or a camera to wildlife to follow up and survey, but with these methods, research expenses There are limits to the amount of data collected because there are also limited.

A wild lion shoots a powerful cat punch delivered with a buggy mounted camera - GIGAZINE


Meanwhile, due to popularization of digital cameras and smartphones with camera functions, and enhancement of contents that can submit reports such as blog media, eyewitness information of animals from all over the world gathers on the net, imagination by biologists There is a present condition that useful information including 'new discovery' exceeding it has been accumulated on the net, and it is greatly useful for researcher's data collection. It is necessary to raise funds on the netCloud FundingOn the other hand, cloud science gathers scientific knowledge on the net.

Cloud Science Utilizing Information on Wild Animals Gathered from the Public Citizen is expanding the range of data collection to various animals, not limited to the ecology of the whale shark,WildbookSublimation to the construction of a wildlife database called. Cloud science, which realizes data collection that jumped over the constraints on funds that had plagued zoologists so far, is aiming to develop animals' ecological researches and to enhance the knowledge shared by humankind, "Citizen Science Sometimes it is called. A good example of collective intelligence that the Internet brings is Citizen Science, and similar movements that exploit potential important information received from citizens are expected to be applied in a variety of fields.

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