Facial recognition software to help protect ocean giant - Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
A critically endangered giant of UK waters has been thrown a conservation lifeline thanks to a new project that uses technology similar to facial recognition to help monitor the species.
Rate A Skate, a collaboration between NatureScot and The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), a partner of UHI, is using artificial intelligence to help marine biologists scan thousands of images of flapper skate, giving an insight into the movements and health of individual creatures.
Flapper skate can grow to nearly three metres long and are the second largest fish in UK waters, behind the basking shark. Yet, these deep-dwelling creatures, once common around the British Isles, now exist in small numbers and are notoriously difficult to monitor.
The new project builds on the existing SkateSpotter monitoring programme that has so far collated a database of 5,500 images, mainly taken by catch-and-release anglers and underwater camera traps. Most of the images so far are of skate located in Argyll where the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura Marine Protected Area was put in place for the species’ protection.
Individual skate can be identified by the unique pattern of spots on their backs. Matching to date has been done by eye, but as the photo database expanded, the job became unmanageable for humans alone.
SAMS marine biologist Dr Steven Benjamins explained: “Thanks to Skatespotter we have more data on flapper skate than ever before and we are gradually learning more about these magnificent creatures. Citizen science is crucial for our work and we are grateful to anglers and community groups who send in photos of skate. These inform our research into their abundance, movement patterns and the health of individuals. However, the project had become a victim of its own success and we were unable to keep up with matching the number of individuals we had on record.”
Posted On: 07/04/2025
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