Scientists Use Facial Recognition to Study Seals
2022-12-05
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1Scientists believe they have found a new use for facial recognition technology: saving large ocean animals known as seals.
2Researchers at Colgate University in the U.S. state of New York have developed SealNet.
3The system is a database of seal faces created by taking pictures of many harbor seals in Maine's Casco Bay.
4The research team found the tool's accuracy in identifying the mammals was close to 100 percent.
5The researchers are working on increasing the size of their database to make it available to other scientists, said Krista Ingram.
6She is a biology professor at Colgate and a team member.
7Increasing the database to include rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal and Hawaiian monk seal could help efforts to save those species, she said.
8Creating a list of seal faces and using machine learning to identify them can also help scientists know where in the ocean seals are, Ingram said.
9She said, "For...marine mammals that move around a lot and are hard to photograph in the water, we need to be able to identify individuals."
10SealNet is designed to identify the face in a picture.
11It recognizes the seal's face based on information related to the eyes and nose shape, as it would a human.
12A similar tool called PrimNet, that is for use on primates, had been used on seals earlier, but SealNet performed better, the Colgate researchers said.
13The Colgate team published its findings last spring in Ecology and Evolution.
14They processed more than 1,700 images of more than 400 individual seals, the paper said.
15The paper stated that the SealNet software could be a valuable tool in the developing field of "conservation technology" - technology aimed at saving and protecting wild animals.
16Harbor seals are a conservation success story in the U.S.
17More than 100 years ago, the animals were once widely killed.
18But the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which turned 50 in October, gave them new protections - and populations began to come back.
19Seals and other ocean mammals have long been studied using satellite technology.
20Using artificial intelligence to study them is a way to bring conservation into the 21st century, said Jason Holmberg of Wild Me.
21The Oregon-based company works to bring machine learning to biologists.
22Wild Me is developing a possible partnership with SealNet.
23Harbor seals are now common in the waters off the coast of the Northeastern United States.
24Other seal species, however, remain at risk.
25The Mediterranean monk seal is thought to be the world's most at-risk seal with only a few hundred animals remaining.
26Facial recognition technology could provide valuable data, said Michelle Berger, an associate scientist at the Shaw Institute in Maine.
27Berger was not involved in the SealNet research.
28"Once the system is perfected I can picture lots of interesting" environmental uses for it, Berger said.
29"If they could recognize seals, and recognize them from year to year, that would give us lots of information about movement, how much they move from site to site."
30The Colgate researchers are also working with FruitPunch, a Dutch artificial intelligence company, to improve some parts of SealNet to help more scientists use it, said Tjomme Dooper, FruitPunch's head of partnerships and growth.
31That would open new opportunities to study the animals and help protect them, he said.
32"What this does is help the biologists study the behavior of seals, and also population dynamics," Dooper said.
33He added that harbor seals give important information about the environment around them.
34I'm John Russell.
1Scientists believe they have found a new use for facial recognition technology: saving large ocean animals known as seals. 2Researchers at Colgate University in the U.S. state of New York have developed SealNet. The system is a database of seal faces created by taking pictures of many harbor seals in Maine's Casco Bay. 3The research team found the tool's accuracy in identifying the mammals was close to 100 percent. 4The researchers are working on increasing the size of their database to make it available to other scientists, said Krista Ingram. She is a biology professor at Colgate and a team member. 5Increasing the database to include rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal and Hawaiian monk seal could help efforts to save those species, she said. 6Creating a list of seal faces and using machine learning to identify them can also help scientists know where in the ocean seals are, Ingram said. 7She said, "For...marine mammals that move around a lot and are hard to photograph in the water, we need to be able to identify individuals." 8SealNet is designed to identify the face in a picture. It recognizes the seal's face based on information related to the eyes and nose shape, as it would a human. A similar tool called PrimNet, that is for use on primates, had been used on seals earlier, but SealNet performed better, the Colgate researchers said. 9The Colgate team published its findings last spring in Ecology and Evolution. They processed more than 1,700 images of more than 400 individual seals, the paper said. 10The paper stated that the SealNet software could be a valuable tool in the developing field of "conservation technology" - technology aimed at saving and protecting wild animals. 11Harbor seals are a conservation success story in the U.S. More than 100 years ago, the animals were once widely killed. But the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which turned 50 in October, gave them new protections - and populations began to come back. 12Seals and other ocean mammals have long been studied using satellite technology. Using artificial intelligence to study them is a way to bring conservation into the 21st century, said Jason Holmberg of Wild Me. The Oregon-based company works to bring machine learning to biologists. Wild Me is developing a possible partnership with SealNet. 13Harbor seals are now common in the waters off the coast of the Northeastern United States. Other seal species, however, remain at risk. The Mediterranean monk seal is thought to be the world's most at-risk seal with only a few hundred animals remaining. 14Facial recognition technology could provide valuable data, said Michelle Berger, an associate scientist at the Shaw Institute in Maine. Berger was not involved in the SealNet research. 15"Once the system is perfected I can picture lots of interesting" environmental uses for it, Berger said. "If they could recognize seals, and recognize them from year to year, that would give us lots of information about movement, how much they move from site to site." 16The Colgate researchers are also working with FruitPunch, a Dutch artificial intelligence company, to improve some parts of SealNet to help more scientists use it, said Tjomme Dooper, FruitPunch's head of partnerships and growth. 17That would open new opportunities to study the animals and help protect them, he said. 18"What this does is help the biologists study the behavior of seals, and also population dynamics," Dooper said. He added that harbor seals give important information about the environment around them. 19I'm John Russell. 20Patrick Whittle reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 21__________________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23species - n. biology : a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants 24accuracy -n. freedom from error or mistakes 25primate - n. any member of the group of animals that includes human beings, apes, and monkeys 26conservation - n. the protection of animals, plants, and natural resources 27artificial intelligence -n. an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence 28dynamics - n. the way that two or more people or things behave with each other because of a particular situation