Catlin Global Reef Record launched

The Catlin Seaview Survey - a scientific expedition revealing the state of the world’s coral reefs - last year gave people around the world visual access to the Great Barrier Reef via Google Street View. Now the survey’s sponsor, Catlin Group, has gone one step further with the Catlin Global Reef Record.

The Catlin Global Reef Record is an initiative of the non-for-profit Underwater Earth and was developed in collaboration with the University of Queensland’s Global Climate Institute (GCI), the project’s lead scientific partner. Other collaborators include The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and The World Resources Institute.

Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg is the director of the GCI and chief scientist of the Catlin Seaview Survey. He explained that many countries do not have the resources required to regularly measure the health of their coral reef ecosystems - “as a result, there is often limited baseline data available for identifying the drivers of change on coral reefs”.

The Reef Record is a free global database and standardised research tool relating to major coral reef ecosystems. By making it available to high schools, universities and scientists working on coral research, “we will be able to monitor change in marine environments now and in the future”, Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said.

A large fire coral over a metre in diameter that has completely bleached, photographed by Richard Vevers. © Catlin Seaview Survey

The Reef Record will allow visitors to explore 180,000 panoramic underwater coral reef images. Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said the images were scanned for coral species and automatically annotated using computer vision algorithms, while the footage is used to create 3D reconstructions of reef ecosystems and additional environmental data is included to allow for advanced analysis of worldwide reef health.

The images are captured using a custom-designed underwater camera, which integrates three digital SLR cameras positioned at an angle that allows the Catlin Seaview Survey team to record 360° panoramas. Divers navigate the camera for 2 km transects along the reef, capturing high-definition imagery every three seconds.

By the end of 2014 another 200,000 panoramas are expected, with a total catalogue of 300 reef locations including the Great Barrier Reef, 10 countries in the greater Caribbean region and the Coral Triangle region. Within the next two years the record will include Catlin Seaview Survey baseline visuals and data from Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and the Pacific.

Christophe Bailhache surveying the coral bleaching event in Bermuda using the SVII-S camera. © Catlin Seaview Survey

Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said understanding the change to coral reefs is important because almost 25% of marine species live in and around coral reefs and one-eighth of the world’s population expects to draw on marine resources, such as coral reefs, for their livelihood and wellbeing. But an estimated 50% of coral reefs worldwide have been lost in the past 50 years, with 75% of coral reefs today threatened.

Several of the stresses on coral reefs originate from local sources such as fishing activity and pollution, but Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said there is also concern over the impact of ocean warming and acidification. If current trends in greenhouse gas emissions continue, he said, atmospheric CO₂ is expected to increase to more than 80% above pre-industrial levels by 2050.

“The magnitude and rate of increases in sea surface temperatures and ocean acidity - both caused by the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, including CO₂, in the atmosphere - is likely to exceed the ability of many marine species to adapt and survive,” he said.

“The Catlin Global Reef Record is one way we can help turn this around.”

The Catlin Global Reef Record can be found here.