Science and Universities

In 2012, the then head of communication at the Institute of Marine Sciences, Elisabetta Broglio, promoted Observadores del Mar, a citizen science platform to collect data for the study of the marine environment and its biodiversity. Ten years later, the initiative brings together a community of more than 4,000 non-scientists with some connection to the sea and has already shared nearly 20,000 observations on species and phenomena detected mainly on the Mediterranean coasts. Today, Observadores del Mar has 17 scientific projects, with specific questions to which this community of citizens contributes daily to seek answers. A success also achieved thanks to the work of a coordination team made up of Joaquim Garrabou, María Vicioso, Macarena Marambio and Paula López Sendino, from the Institute of Marine Sciences, Gemma Agell and Maria Garcia, from the Centre for Advanced Studies in Blanes, and Sandra Espeja, from the Marilles Foundation.

The platform is attached to the Citizen Science Office of Barcelona and, in this interview, we talk about its ten years of experience and marine conservation with Macarena Marambio and Paula López Sendino.

How is the sea?

[Paula López Sendino] Sensitive, of course. If we talk about warming, for example, 90% of excess heat is absorbed by the ocean, just as it absorbs 30% of atmospheric carbon dioxide. This is having consequences, for example in terms of increased water temperature and acidity (pH). In addition to these phenomena, pollution is generated in the soil, which also ends up in the sea. Seventy per cent of the planet’s surface is sea and has a direct connection with the land, so all these phenomena end up having an impact on the marine environment and ecosystems.

[Macarena Marambio] To this we can also add the overexploitation of marine resources. It is high time we realised that there is no need for overfishing, the way we fish is not only excessive but is done without criteria. In the sea, the economy is more important than nature as such, but some of what is happening is not seen. If the equivalent of trawling were done on land, I am sure it would not be allowed and would have been stopped by now.

So it’s not just climate change that is the problem.

[Paula López Sendino] Biodiversity loss and climate change are the two big threats we are experiencing on a global scale. But we must not forget that habitat destruction, overfishing and invasive species are also damaging biodiversity. Moreover, we know less about the sea, as it is much more inaccessible than terrestrial ecosystems. We have reached the moon before we know the bottom of the sea! But there seems to be no stopping this. Paradoxically, far from ceasing to exploit the sea, now that we are beginning to know the seabed, mining in the depths is being considered as an alternative to the resources that we can no longer extract on the surface. In other words, the sea is seen as a never-ending source of resources, and that is not true.

Do we have more information about our impacts today or is everything accelerating?

[Macarena Marambio] Both. For me there is under-diagnosis at all levels and I think this has made our feeling today that everything is going faster. In jellyfish, for example, we see it. About twenty-five years ago we started to study the issue of jellyfish blooms, but today it is very difficult to determine when and where one of these episodes will occur, because there is really no historical data on which to compare and understand long-term reproductive cycles. This is the same in all areas. And on the other hand, we are living through a process that is accelerating. It is not the first change we are living through, we have had it before, although not as accelerated as this one, and even less so due to the activity of our own species.

Is the fact that today you dedicate yourselves to studying the sea a vocation?

[Macarena Marambio] In my case, it is 100% vocational. I studied veterinary medicine with an interest in helping animals and I went into the field of conservation, specifically marine conservation, more specifically in the study of turtles. When I came to live in Barcelona I dedicated myself to the study of jellyfish and I got into citizen science.

[Paula López Sendino] 100% vocational too. I wanted to be a marine biologist. I have always had the need to know what is out there and I haven’t lost this desire at all. Within this desire to know, you become aware of our impact and this makes you want to protect it. We ended up converging in this feeling of conservation.

In ten years, Observadores del Mar has managed to involve more than 4,000 observers. Do you think they share your motivation for conservation and the desire to learn?

[Macarena Marambio] I think that in the marine environment, above all, the main motivation is to know in order to help and protect. I see this much more than in other citizen science platforms on biodiversity, where people are perhaps more motivated to belong to a community or to give meaning to the nature activities they carry out on a regular basis. With the sea I have found that feeling of protection much more.

[Paula López Sendino] To begin with, they are people with some kind of link to the sea, whether because they live nearby, go sailing, scuba diving… This link to the sea and the greater desire to contribute to mitigating the changes we are experiencing initiate a wheel to find out what projects are underway, what the problems are, etc. This makes you want to contribute more and more and make a certain commitment. At the same time, people can learn a lot from the sea along the way.

How do you manage to involve so many people?

[Macarena Marambio] I think that one of the potentials of Observadores del Mar is that from a scientific point of view it is quite rigorous. The fact that we are improving the feedback that the scientific teams give to the observers, that the validations are personalised and that there is someone behind it and that it is not an algorithm that validates the observations, I think that contributes to getting people involved. Also, we have improved communication with the observing community and this has allowed people to have greater guarantees that their efforts are going to a safer place. And being seen to be using their data also supports their contribution to citizen science.

[Paula López Sendino] To this we should add that Observadores del Mar has already been running for ten years, that is to say, it covers a good period of data collection. This allows us to carry out analyses on a general scale, not only of specific observations, and to promote the return of this data. In order to make them useful, we are in contact with administrations, as we really want these data to be useful for management and conservation. When we manage to give this feedback to the community, we are convinced that it will encourage and increase the loyalty of the observers.

[Macarena Marambio] Communication and dissemination are essential and contribute to oceanic culture, but whoever sees that their contribution will lead to a result will really continue in the project.

What does citizen science contribute to marine research?

[Macarena Marambio] These projects and people’s participation allow us to have eyes everywhere and at all times. This facilitates early warning. Citizen science provides more information and allows us to work on much larger spatial and temporal scales. If, in addition, the projects, like many in Observadores del Mar, have data collection protocols, include training or materials to identify species, you ensure that the data are more reliable and rigorous. These are, therefore, results that contribute a great deal to broadening this scale.

[Paula López Sendino] In fact, we are now working to obtain a better spatial distribution of data collection, to be able to obtain time series data. In this sense, the Sentinel Observatory Network, made up of twenty of the more than 400 entities that collaborate with Observadores del Mar, has a strategic geographical distribution that allows us to make a more important qualitative leap in the data. In other words, we try to promote those areas where we are collecting few observations and where it would be necessary to place more emphasis in order to detect different patterns and changes.

In ten years of experience, what have you been able to discover thanks to the contribution of the public?

[Macarena Marambio] In terms of climate change, for example, several projects are giving us information on coral mortality, changes in the flowering of Posidonia oceanica, in the distribution of fish that act as indicators of warming… Observations like these allow us to see the impacts of change on ecosystems.

[Paula López Sendino] Another example is a project that arose when an increase in nobel pen shell mortality was detected. Thanks to this project, it was possible to monitor the spread of the pathogen that caused this mortality, which has now affected almost 100% of the nobel pen shells in the Mediterranean. But this same project has given rise to another study of some of these organisms that have resisted the pathogen. We also have the case of Rugulopteryx okamurae, a Pacific seaweed that has appeared in recent years in the Cadiz area and which was not included in the catalogue of invasive species, but which, due to its expansion and impact, has been added as a new species to be monitored. We have also been able to monitor the high mortality of white and red gorgonians, together with other invertebrates, in some episodes of heat waves such as last year.

How do these results allow you to influence political and governmental decision-making?

[Macarena Marambio] We are making progress along these lines. We now see ourselves able to demonstrate that citizen science is useful at this level. For example, we had the collaboration of a scholarship student who allowed us to carry out an analysis of all the monitoring programmes for vulnerable and endangered marine species that exist in Spain. Each of these species should have a monitoring and protection plan, and the analysis showed that only 4% have one. Now, the results obtained with citizen science support the fact that this monitoring can be carried out in an orderly manner and fill these gaps. The case of the nobel pen shell is a clear example of how monitoring was mobilised and awareness was raised.

How do you value the initiatives promoted by the City Council through the Barcelona Citizen Science Office?

[Paula López Sendino] As Observadores del Mar we have participated in many activities organised by the Citizen Science Office, such as programmes like Citizen Science in Schools or Citizen Science in the Neighbourhoods, or big events like the Science Festival. In fact, Barcelona has promoted citizen science from the very beginning, and this is very important. These initiatives are fundamental to raise awareness of this type of science and involve the people of the city. There are many other projects underway in the city, monitoring terrestrial animals such as butterflies, birds, small mammals, air quality, etc. This allows us to learn first-hand about the problems of the city’s inhabitants. This allows us to learn first-hand about our environmental problems, empower citizens and take action by collaborating in research as citizens, encouraging collaboration and fostering a more critical spirit that helps us move forward as a society.

What is the role of the more than 400 organisations that collaborate with Observadores del Mar?

[Paula López Sendino] There are many entities and they are very varied: sailing clubs, schools, diving clubs, NGOs, research centres… Some help to disseminate the platform, others facilitate the uploading of observations, with many new synergies emerge… In the end, we do not want to be alone in this initiative. The objective of improving knowledge and conservation of our sea is shared by many people.

[Macarena Marambio] I think that for some entities it gives them security to be part of the community and at the same time it is also what we are looking for, because if they go to the sea to collect data, it makes sense to make the most of the effort and that it is done following the protocols so that they are useful for the search.

What have you learned from citizenship?

[Paula López Sendino] Before being in the coordination, I was an observer. I have seen it in a very different way. As an observer I have always found it a way to learn a lot of things, about problems, invasive species, crabs, things that I didn’t know so much about. I think it’s very rewarding for people who come up with observations to have that come back. If one of your observations can also be relevant (such as a new sighting, a species never detected in the area, a previously unobserved impact…), this engages you even more. From the other side, from the coordination team, it makes us more aware of the importance of giving that feedback to the participants.

[Macarena Marambio] What I have learned from citizens in general, both from Observadores del Mar and other projects, is that people can be very grateful and sharing information without expecting something can be very positive. But at the same time, people have an ego and often expect something in return, when in fact in Observadores del Mar we are not benefiting from all this, but rather we are pursuing a common good. In any case, there is a proportion of people who are very grateful for this.

[Paula López Sendino] I would add the concept of immediacy. It is common to find that participants want a quick and immediate return. But research data, in order to be robust and useful, has a slow trajectory that cannot be cut short.

After a decade of work, where do you think Observadores del Mar is now?

[Macarena Marambio] We are expanding the quality of the data collected. The experience accumulated so far allows us to analyse the strong points of the projects, the weak points where we need to put more effort… Now there is a consolidation of the work team. We are a large team with part-time and part-time dedication, and everything related to internal communication has had to be consolidated, despite the lack of funding. The platform is beginning to be recognised and this has cost a lot, but we are moving upwards.

Image: Observadores del Mar’s historical coordination and communication team on the platform’s 10th anniversary.

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