How AI and crowd-sourcing helps us understand seadragons

Seadragons are beautifully and uniquely patterned, but they are also masters of camouflage. How many seadragons are there in Australian waters? Where do they live? Is their population growing? 

Dr Nerida Wilson shares how SeadragonSearch has combined machine learning technology with crowd-sourced data to seek answers to these questions. 

Across southern Australia, everyday people voluntarily contribute scientific data that will provide deeper insight into the lives of seadragons.  

Nerida also shares her special connection to a wild seadragon in Tasmanian waters, known as Speedy. 

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx 

About the speaker 

Dr Nerida Wilson is a marine molecular biologist, research scientist and author. She has four species named after her, including a sea slug!  

With over 100 peer-reviewed publications to her name, Nerida has spent her career building an understanding about the extent of biological diversity on our planet, and the relationships between species. 

Her interest in marine environments have taken her from the tropics to the poles, from shallow reefs to the deep sea. This included 16 oceanographic expeditions. 

Her work at the Western Australian Museum has included projects to protect Antarctica’s environmental future, the deep-sea Ningaloo Canyons, and Pilbara fauna. 

Recently, Nerida has developed an intriguing collaborative community science project to monitor and conserve seadragons.