Smithsonian marine biologists have launched Invader ID, an online citizen science project calling on people to help identify invasive species. The project started on the San Francisco Bay, where the majority of species identified by researchers are invasive.

“SERC marine biologist Brianna Tracy holds a plate with marine life pulled from a dock in San Francisco. (Photo: Kristen Minogue/SERC)”

Up to this point, the team has used plastic tiles hanging from docks to see what organisms are there. Researchers pull the tiles up three months later and identify the organisms attached to the tiles. They try to pinpoint where invasive species are thriving, and find new invaders before they become a problem. With just a small team, however, they have a hard time identifying all of the species.

This spring, the researchers uploaded pictures of 160 tiles, nearly 8,000 photos, to their website that launched March 21st. The website asks the user to identify each species on the tile, and can offer follow-up questions (Hard or soft? Patterned or one color?) to help figure out the right species.

If the project succeeds, the researchers will upload more pictures from their 20,000 tile collection, and will add tiles from other research locations. SERC biologist Brianna Tracy adds “with a project like this, we can really expand our scope.”

Original article by Kristen Minogue.