Exploring innovative technologies in marine science at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology
In early Spring, I got accepted to the Edwin W. Pauley Scholarship course at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. Myself and 12 other post-graduates spent 4-weeks exploring different uses for new technologies so that we could take back these skills and apply them to our own research.
One of the main objectives that the professors and directors of the course emphasized was the need to communicate our science to a wider audience. To accomplish this, we set up a National Geographic Open Explorer blog for each of us to share the highlights of our time at HIMB. Below is one of my blog posts from the course for those who are curious about the new kinds of technologies being applied to research in marine science and for those who are interested in applying to the course themselves. This course provided me with invaluable knowledge and experiences through both the course content itself and the amazing individuals I was surrounded by. If you have an inkling of an interest in applying, do not hesitate to do so!
“There's nothing like the excitement of learning a new technology and finding innovative ways to integrate it into your own research interest.”
My goal coming into this course on innovative technologies in marine science was to learn ways to apply these technologies to fisheries management, particularly for coastal communities to create self-sustaining management systems. Today was the last day of our remote sensing module with Dr. Liz Madin and something finally clicked. I was exploring the concept of "fishing the line" in which fishermen concentrate their fishing efforts on or near borders of no-take marine reserves to receive the benefits of the "spill-over effect". In other words, the area surrounding a marine reserve profits off of the over-production of fish within the reserve because, of course, fish are not stationary and don't acknowledge borders.
Using the Philippines as a case study, I began by looking at Google Earth to measure the abundance of artisanal fishing boats within 1 kilometer of marine reserve borders to see how the numbers changed throughout the years of available satellite imagery. I began to see a pattern in the number of boats increasing year after year. One would assume that this is the case because the fish catch must be increasing in these areas as well, right? In most cases it takes years after the establishment of a marine reserve to see a significant recovery of fish species so, while correlation is not causation, I began to think of the ways in which satellite imagery could identify determinants of marine reserve success. Could the number of fishing boats "fishing the line" of marine reserves be an indicator of ecosystem health? Could a free technology that is widely available and easy to use be an alternative to often time and money-consuming underwater surveys?
The answer is "I don't know", but I'm excited to explore these questions deeper and compare the satellite imagery with in-the-field reports of marine reserve success to understand if there is in fact a correlation. If so, this tool could be used by anyone, anywhere in the world to study the efficacy of marine reserves with limited funding, time, and technical skills.
Emma Hearne
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