Speaker Series - Caught on Camera: Tracking Giant Sea Bass Through Diver Photography

Community scientists across coastal Southern California are advancing groundbreaking marine science by capturing thousands of underwater photographs of the critically-endangered, refrigerator-sized Giant Sea Bass, known as the “King of the Kelp Forest," during their scuba diving adventures. This talk dives into leading-edge research by Molly Morse of the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory at UCSB using pattern-recognition computer algorithms to analyze these diver-submitted photos, automatically identifying individual fish and tracking their movement across California's kelp forests. This collaboration between recreational divers and university researchers is providing cutting-edge insights into the conservation and recovery of this historically enigmatic species.