Whale shark identfication software wins Australian U$100,000 prize - 26 October
A method of recognising whale sharks based on the starry night sky has won Australian marine biologist Brad Norman a US$100,000 prize from a watchmaking company.
...
After spending hours laboriously cataloguing and manually checking photographs of the sharks, Norman decided there had to be an easier way. A software-developing friend in the U.S., Jason Holmberg, introduced him to Zaven Arzoumanian, an astronomer with the U.S. space agency NASA who suggested that shark spots might be a bit like trying to recognise patterns of stars in the sky.
For the full story, see http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/799
Contributed by Tim Hochgrebe added 2006-10-28
Replies of 1
-
Tim Hochgrebe added 2006-10-31
Read the full story on this achievement in our special article at http://www.underwater.com.au/article.php/id/6558/
I think it is a great tool that can and will be used for loads of other species.
Well done Brad .. and you probably got a great new WATCH too ;-)
Tim
Tim Hochgrebe
Dive in, Explore ... and Save!
Replies of 1
Login or become a member to join in with this discussion.
AquaTech Australia
Since 1998 AquaTech has been at the forefront of the design and manufacture of professional photographic accessories.
Articles
-
Diving Papua New Guinea - Milne Bay
- It is one of the few places left in the world where a diver can see macro critters, pelagics, and big stuff, as well as fantastic soft and hard corals. The often misused and abused adjective “pristine” is actually appropriate here, due to low fishing pressure in the area in comparison to other areas of the Coral Triangle, no dynamite fishing, and thanks to a system implemented by dive resorts whereby local reef "owners" receiving a small fee for every diver that visits "their" reef. As a result elders make sure that the reefs are not fished.
