🌊 The Power of the People: How Citizen Scientists Are Mapping Ocean Change 🐠

What do fishers, boaters, scuba divers, snorkellers, and beachcombers have in common? Aside from salt in their hair and sand in their shoes—they're changing the way we understand our oceans 🤿

Over the past decade, everyday ocean lovers have been snapping photos 📸, logging sightings 📍and unknowingly helping science take a giant leap forward. Using platforms like Redmap, Reef Life Survey, and Australian Fishes on iNaturalist, thousands of citizen scientists have helped spot something big: marine species are on the move.

In fact, 91% of species range shifts recorded in this project hadn’t been picked up by traditional science alone. That’s a tidal wave of new information, showing how fish, invertebrates, and other marine creatures are creeping further south—often due to warming waters. These poleward range extensions have real impacts, both for ecosystems and for communities that depend on the ocean.

So, how did we figure this out? Between 2013 and 2022, we reviewed sightings of 200 marine species all around Australia. We compared those observations to their known range limits from a decade earlier. With a careful mix of expert validation and a decision tree based on species traits, we were able to confirm whether a species had truly made a move. If you want to read more about this paper led by Redmap scientist Dr Barrett Wolfe, click here! 

This research shows that citizen science isn’t just nice to have—it’s essential. It allows us to track change in real time, across huge areas, and with the help of a passionate, curious public.

To all the citizen scientists who shared their sightings, suggestions, and feedback: thank you!! Your contributions have directly improved how we understand and track changes in our oceans.