We all spend a lot of time on our phones these days. But what if that screen time could help kelp forests?
Welcome to Kelp Quest, a chance for you to participate in the Seattle Aquarium’s marine research.
First, a little refresher. Kelp is a type of algae that provides critical food and habitats to many animal species, including sea otters and salmon. Kelp is also disappearing at an alarming rate. Figuring out how to reverse kelp’s decline is so important that the Aquarium has a research team dedicated to protecting kelp forests. Our Coastal Climate Resilience (CCR) team studies the conditions that contribute to bull kelp thriving or declining in certain areas of the local seafloor, and we share all our research publicly to inform action to protect kelp forests.
The Aquarium’s research team collects images of the seafloor—and we need your help to sort through the data!
You might be familiar with the Aquarium’s remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Our CCR team has used two of these relatively lightweight and nimble vehicles to take tens of thousands of images of the seafloor. The team has trained a machine-learning model to identify the animals, algae, objects and seafloor found in our massive library of images.
Models like the one we are designed for maximum efficiency and low computational cost. These types of models have been around since the 1950s and are frequently used in scientific and environmental research to find patterns in large sets of data. But the Aquarium’s model is still learning and makes mistakes.
That’s where you come in! Anyone with access to the internet can contribute to Kelp Quest by reviewing and interacting with the collected images.
Diving into Kelp Quest
“None of us were born as kelp experts. We all learned through exposure to animals and algae. This approach leverages our natural ability to recognize details and patterns while supporting ocean conservation.”
There are two ways to help. In the “Yes/No” workflow, you can confirm or refute the model’s guess of what is pictured in the image. And in the “Multiple Choice” workflow, you’ll label the image yourself.
Examples of the types of images you’ll help sort.
Don’t worry if you’re no marine expert! The CCR team has developed a handy “Field Guide” that goes over all sorts of things you might encounter, from kelp and other algae to rocks and car tires. The CCR team is also very active in the project’s “Talk” forum, where volunteers can discuss interesting findings or troubleshoot hard-to-identify images.
By helping label these images, not only are you supporting this project, but you’re also helping train our model to be more accurate, further supporting future marine research.
Science is a team sport
“We really want to make our research as collaborative as possible to boost kelp forest conservation efforts. The more hands we have on this project, the faster we can uncover ecological insights that will better inform conservation."
Kelp Quest is hosted on Zooniverse, a platform built around the idea that many people (including those with no formal training) can collaborate on research projects together. Many of the projects on Zooniverse require going through large amounts of data, something that would take small research teams ages, even with computer assistance.
But with nearly three million registered volunteers around the world, that work can be done much quicker. And as Zooniverse itself points out, humans are uniquely good at pattern recognition, often even better than computers, as is the case in Kelp Quest.
As an open-source and open-access research project, Kelp Quest is set up in a way that supports the idea that science is a team sport. Open source means the computer code we use to run the model is publicly available for anyone to use and improve. And open access means we make the results of our research (including the model) publicly available whenever possible.
We make our findings available to help promote kelp conservation and further research.
In keeping the project open like this, the CCR team hopes to encourage collaboration and transparency in their work. One of the unexpected benefits to this is that some volunteers have already reached out to get involved with the project or to suggest ways to improve it.
Salish Sea superstar
“Kelp forests and the species that rely on them are beautiful, ecologically important and increasingly vulnerable to human impacts and climate change. We hope Kelp Quest will connect people to this underwater world while directly contributing to research and management decisions that advance kelp forest conservation and restoration.”
At the core of this research is the question: What factors contribute to kelp forests thriving or declining?
Bull kelp is a key player in many of the Pacific Northwest’s nearshore ecosystems.
And that’s an important question when it comes to Puget Sound’s marine ecosystem. Like the coral reefs found in warm waters, kelp forests are hotbeds of biodiversity. They serve as habitats for many species, including nurseries for young salmon and rockfish.
These mighty undersea forests also protect shorelines and enrich coastal communities. And the Pacific Northwest’s Indigenous communities have used kelp and stewarded coastal ecosystems since time immemorial.
Whenever you engage with the Seattle Aquarium, be it online or in person with a visit, you directly support vital marine conservation work. Talk about being “kelpful!”
Meet the team
Want to know more about the dedicated scientists leading the project? Read on!
(From left to right) Megan Williams, Reid Thomson and Zachary Randell conduct field research in Seattle’s Elliott Bay.
Dr. Zachary Randell, Ph.D.
Senior research scientist
Zach grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and started scuba diving there when he was 15. His passion for ocean exploration led him to pursue scientific scuba diving at the University of California, Santa Cruz and complete a dissertation at Oregon State University, focusing on long-term kelp forest dynamics, underwater experimentation and dynamical modeling. He has always been eager to explore underwater, and this project allows him and his team to use cutting-edge ROVs and data analysis to study the ocean in new ways.
Megan Williams, M.S.
Research scientist
Megan grew up in Seattle, where sailing and exploring tide pools fostered an early appreciation for the beauty of Puget Sound. That connection to the marine environment led her to James Cook University in Australia, where she studied how coastal ecosystems respond to change. She has played a key role in advancing the CCR team’s spatial analysis and machine learning work and brings a strong field perspective to the team. She remains inspired by Washington’s rugged, green waters and is committed to protecting the natural places that shaped her life for future generations.
Reid Thomson, B.S.
Research technician
Despite his upbringing in the Midwest, Reid developed an unwavering passion for marine life at an early age. Summers spent constantly in and around lakes and streams fused with a love of nature documentaries to drive his fascination with the mysteries held by even larger bodies of water. Reid’s curiosity led him to pursue a degree in marine science at Boston University, where he refined his passion toward a career in marine research. He has a particular fondness for fieldwork that helps him explore Washington’s beautiful, rugged coast.
