Crowdsourcing is leading to the involvement of ever greater numbers of citizen scientists in scientific research. One of the latest projects to pull in the enthusiastic amateurs is a scheme to track polar bear migration.
Scientists from Polar Bears International and Explore.org are studying the effects of climate change on polar bears and want to see if the crowd can successfully help them in their research.
Live webcam feeds monitor the animals’ annual migration in Canada, from Hudson Bay’s southwestern shore to the Wapusk National Park in Manitoba. Individuals can participate by going to Explore.org’s website and taking snapshots from the live feeds.
Scientists can then compare some of these with older photographs to see how the bears’ bodies are changing over time. Additionally, participants who are visiting Manitoba to witness the migration close up can download a smartphone app and tag and upload the images to the project’s website.
Can the Crowd Help?
At this point in time the scientists involved in the project are keen to find out if the public can really help them study the effects of shrinking sea ice and later freeze-ups on the size, health and reproductive rates of polar bears.
“The important point to me is that we need to explore the potential to collect data from whatever sources might be out there,” said Steven Amstrup, chief scientist for Polar Bears International.
To find out more about polar bear migrations, the effects of climate change and how you can get involved in the research, click here.