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Super Digital Fisher Contributes 10000 Annotations

Overview

![digitalfishers_help_explore.jpg](https://cdn.onc-prod.intergalactic.space/digitalfishers_help_explore_db507becdd.jpg) Citizen scientist Harold Smith has now contributed over 10,000 annotations to Ocean Networks Canada's video database using the Digital Fishers crowdsourcing tool. ![harold smith digital fishers leaderboard.jpg](https://cdn.onc-prod.intergalactic.space/harold_smith_digital_fishers_leaderboard_27f8b35a1f.jpg) Harold is our current all-time leader, and his annotations are helping scientists tackle questions such as: - What environmental factors influence the distribution of species in the deep? - What is the biodiversity associated with deep-sea environments? - How do species interact with each other and with their environment? We developed Digital Fishers together with the University of Victoria’s Centre for Global Studies (CfGS) with CANARIE funding. Co-investigator Dr. Rod Dobell leads the involvement of CfGS with additional support from eBriefings.ca.

Sablefish Countdown Redux

Overview

Citizen scientists around the world are invited to participate in a new sablefish counting study. Two years after our original Digital Fishing Derby, we are now launching a follow-up study, which will help researchers refine the results from the first study. The goal is to count sablefish, or black cod, that appear in a series of one-minute clips—almost 1,500 clips in total. # How to Participate Using Digital Fishers, count the number of sablefish (black cod) you see during individual 1-minute video clips. At the end of the 60-second clip, the video pauses. You can then select sablefish (black cod) and a corresponding number (0-12) from the dropdown menu under the Sealife category, as shown below. For this new mission, citizen scientists (you) are asked to count the number of sablefish that they see throughout the entire clip. Every sablefish. Even if it is only part of a sablefish or if appears that the same sablefish came back into the screen. At the end of the clip, the screen will pause. Participants can then select Sablefish and a corresponding number (0-12) from the dropdown menu.

New Digital Fishers Campaign: Feeding Deep Sea Critters

Overview

Calling all citizen scientists! Play Digital Fishers while helping a marine biologist better understand how creatures in the deep ocean live – where there is no light and food is scarce! Ocean Networks Canada is observing these deep sea creatures with cameras that collect huge volumes of video 24/7 and transmit the images to ONC data centre via the Internet. Your challenge will be to count and identify the animals in each one-minute clip (up to 500 of them!) that are attracted by the food patches that have been placed in Barkley Canyon’s installation at 890 m depth. The game has five levels, with reward cards earned as your experience grows. Find out who can “catch” the most animals? The “Feeding Deep Sea Critters” campaign will run for several months. Thank you to our citizen scientists for helping the world better understand our ocean planet.

Sablefish study reveals citizen scientists are expert observers

Overview

Modern science is starting to take amateur scientists’ observations seriously. The impressive performance of over 500 citizen scientists who signed on for a study counting sablefish off the Tofino coast is heartening proof that we can all play a part in understanding the ocean, says one of the Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) scientists who co-authored the study. That’s a key takeaway for World Oceans Day on 8 June, notes scientist Maia Hoeberechts, ONC associate director of user services (Figure 1). “This study is about who can help science,” she says. “The theme for this year’s 25th anniversary of World Oceans Day is Our Oceans, Our Future, building interest and ability for individuals to make a difference within their own circles, in the community or at the global level.”

Your new Digital Fishers mission (should you choose to accept it)…

Overview

**The ocean needs you! With close to 100,000 hours of archived video footage⎯and more being continuously captured by Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC) underwater cameras⎯you can help scientists answer important questions about the ocean. Play a fun video game that analyzes the behaviour of deep sea marine life.** How are changes in the upper ocean affecting the abundance of organic matter⎯food for deep sea marine life⎯on the ocean floor? How do seasonal variations in oxygen concentration affect flora and fauna in Barkley Canyon, off Canada’s west coast? As a citizen scientist, you can help ONC researchers study species diversity, distribution, and behaviour in this complex ecosystem (Figure 1).