Blue Shark photo credit: Michael Bear
San Diego’s Ocean Sanctuaries has teamed up with National Geographic and is using an interactive tool for scientists, called Fieldscope, to monitor shark encounters in the San Diego area.
Sharks that have already been logged include leopard sharks, horn sharks, angel sharks, tope sharks, as well as pelagic species such as blue, mako, great white and thresher sharks. If more sharks are seen in the San Diego area, they are welcomed on Fieldscope, but the sharks above are usually the ones seen in San Diego. (Ocean Sanctuaries hopes to expand the Fieldscope shark tracker to more areas around California).
Ocean Sanctuaries has an ongoing separate study with Sevengills Shark which is why this shark is not included with the Fieldscope study. To help document seven gill shark sightings, divers should visit the website http://sevengillsharksightings.org/.
The general idea of Fieldscope is an “interactive mapping platform that extends the tools of exploration and investigation to everyday scientist enthusiasts,” according to National Geographic. Everyday citizens are able to document and understand the world around them by using Fieldscope. In basic terms, this is a tool for your average science enthusiast to share, analyze, and interpret data to look for bigger trends that are happening worldwide.
More Information:
To document Sevengills Shark: http://sevengillsharksightings.org/.
To use fieldscope: http://oceansanctuaries.org/wordpress/citizen-science-projects/fieldscope
.