On a sunny October morning off the coast of California, the water was full of life. Just a few minutes into the bay on a motorized, inflatable pontoon, ocean waves revealed endless rows of energetic sea lions weaving in and out of the water. Looking down, schools of phytoplankton swam below the boat. For the ocean scientists who have committed their lives to studying marine life, these were the perfect conditions to find what they were searching for. Looking out into the ocean with their long-lens cameras ready, they could see what an untrained eye couldn't. All of a sudden, one of the researchers shouted, "2:00," and their lenses quickly shuttered to catch the elusive whale tail.
These tails are critical clues that contribute to conservation research, and every whale tail tells a story: Markings like barnacle scars, shark bites, and pigmentation make each 15-foot-across whale tail unique.
Until recently, researchers could spend anywhere from hours to months comparing photos of whale tails to determine species' population numbers.
"You could spend two weeks in the field and end up with tens of thousands of photographs, and it could take you 10, 12 months to go through and match all those photographs," said Erin Ashe, cofounder of Oceans Initiative, a Seattle-based research nonprofit on a mission to protect marine wildlife and marine biodiversity. "It can be enormously expensive."
Now, with AI, this process takes mere seconds. That's thanks in part to Ted Cheeseman, founder of Happywhale, a platform that allows users — including the public and researchers — to identify whales by uploading photos they take out on the water.
"AI serves as a tool that can essentially allow us to scale the science so that we can collaborate at a much larger scale," Cheeseman said.
Recently, Cheeseman joined forces with Ashe and her cofounder Rob Williams to explore how this technology can impact species and oceans around the world.
The scientists met up to go whale-watching at Monterey Bay, which Cheeseman said is one of the most diverse marine environments. These whale-watching trips can last hours and require focus on all the movement and signs from the water, wildlife, maps, and information the captain receives from other boats — meaning Cheeseman, Ashe, and Williams had to make sure they were prepared. They drove separately (one in the Toyota Crown and the other in the Toyota Crown Signia), using the drive as a chance to focus and get in the zone.
A lifelong interest in ocean life
When Cheeseman was a young child, he and his family often spent time looking for whales in Monterey Bay. The whaling industry of the last century has destroyed the population, he said, so "there were hardly any whales to be seen."
He trained as a scientist, but spent most of his career guiding expeditions in Antarctica. As the whale population began to recover, Cheeseman realized there wasn't much information available on any of the whales he saw.
"You could tell that story in their tail, but you can't really know the life history of that whale," he said.
When I'm going out to sea, there's an adventure ahead. I get in the car, it's a bit of time alone to get in the zone where I'm thinking about what might unfold that day.Ted Cheeseman, Founder of Happywhale
Cheeseman hypothesized that he could use image and facial recognition technology to identify whales. He worked with computer programmers to build his dream system. Now anyone can submit a photo to Happywhale and instantly gain insight into the whale's age, migration patterns, and other information.
With this technology, researchers can track animals around the world and learn about their populations, behavior, and health. The data also tells a story about the status of oceans.
Using the Happywhale data set, Cheeseman worked with research partners to study the North Pacific humpback whale. They discovered that the population increased by about 33,000 whales until 2013, then stopped growing until 2016 due to a three-year heat wave that changed the ocean and depleted whales' food source. Now, it seems like the whales are recovering again.
"[The data] shows us that oceans, they're very resilient, but they're also quite sensitive," Cheeseman said. "And that's what we're tracking."
Over 30,000 people and hundreds of researchers have contributed photos to Happywhale since 2015. Cheeseman said they've identified almost every living whale in the North Pacific Ocean.
"We just couldn't do that alone," he said. "The collaboration is super key."
Marrying tech and research
Ashe and Williams of Oceans Initiative rely on data to inform policy about the ocean. Their mission is to protect endangered species and identify populations that might be on the brink of endangerment.
This data can inform the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, which raises awareness about at-risk species and how to save them from extinction.
Williams, the chief scientist of Oceans Initiative, has studied marine mammals around the world and developed statistical tools to assess species populations. Ashe, the nonprofit's executive director and senior scientist, has spent nearly 15 years studying the Pacific white-sided dolphin.
The Oceans Initiative team created the "Animal Counting Toolkit," a guide for designing and conducting a budget-friendly survey to estimate marine wildlife populations from a small boat anywhere in the world.
One of their biggest challenges, aside from resources, is the speed of change. Oceans are warming, fish populations are depleting, and contaminants are moving their way up the food chain.
"Time is of the essence with conservation, and [technology] frees up capacity for us to focus on more pressing issues," Williams said.
From land to sea
One of Ashe's favorite parts of her job is spending time out on the boat with her colleagues.
"A magic happens when you're with your fellow researchers," she said. "There's cross-pollination, there are ideas, and there are discoveries that are made out in the field, and that really inform the technology and innovation and the conservation."
When I'm in a boat and out on the water, I feel like I'm in my element and I am in one of those states of flow, which is so exciting.Erin Ashe, PhD, Executive Director and Senior Scientist of Oceans Initiative
When the three conservationists got together on the boat, Monterey Bay was as active as Cheeseman had promised. In two hours, they identified about nine whales through hundreds of photographs. Happywhale helped them track the whale's history on the spot.
After their journey, the conservationists examined the photos up close. They turned the generous cargo space of the Toyota Crown Signia into a mobile workspace, using the vehicle's available Wi-Fi Connect to get online and stay connected.
The same technology Cheeseman uses to identify whales can also be applied to markings on other species like dolphins using transfer learning. AI can pick up on patterns and changes over time.
Cheeseman's goal for Happywhale is to add this functionality for more species so organizations like Oceans Initiative can use these tools to better protect the ocean. Working with other scientists can help make this a reality.
"It's beautiful to connect with scientists like Rob and Erin," Cheeseman said. "They have this real inspiration and love of using good whale science to create better outcomes for managing oceans for better health. And I happen to have technology that can really move their work forward and to bring it together."
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This post was created by Insider Studios with Toyota Crown.
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