(upbeat instrumental music) Ted Cheeseman: Happywhale is a research platform where anyone can upload photos of whales. We can identify them with AI image recognition. We are off to Moss Landing, California, to meet up with Rob and Erin,

two whale scientists and researchers I've known for many years, but we've never worked together in the field, so I'm really excited. (gulls squawking)
(gentle music) Going out into Monterey Bay on a boat,

it's a pretty special experience because you're out in a very wild and natural environment. It's sort of in the animal zone. Nature at a scale that's hard to grasp. Erin Ashe: Oh wow. Cheeseman: Ah, here come the whales.

Ashe: Ah! (camera shutters clicking) Cheeseman: Whale up at nine o'clock. (camera shutters clicking) Here comes the fluke sequence. Rob Williams: Nice.
Cheeseman: Nice. Ashe: Nice.
Cheeseman: Nice, nice.

Ashe: Beautiful. It is just inspiring to go out on the water. I find myself making new connections and being inspired to start new lines of research. Cheeseman: Looks like a young animal. Ashe: Oh yeah.

Williams: I think a lot of the science that we do can start to feel very hypothetical, very academic, and there's just something magical about being in the field and being on the water, and feeling the salt spray

And seeing and hearing the animals that you study. It reminds you why you got into the field in the first place. Cheeseman: Okay, so let's try to identify that whale. There's a quick crop. Send it to the AI machine, and we have a match.

Ashe: Oh my gosh. Cheeseman: Absolutely. Yeah, there you go. So you can see the barnacle scars, that show that match. Ashe: Yeah. Cheeseman: And then that trailing edge

is quite distinct, and a little bit of white pigment on the right side. Williams: Yep. Cheeseman: So now we can take a look at where this whale's known from. It's been seen just four times since April.

First seen in Baja and then all the other sightings here in Monterey Bay. There you go, cool. Ashe: That's amazing. Williams: That is so cool. Cheeseman: This is a place where the ocean was very unhealthy.

Go back 60 years, there weren't whales, there weren't seals, there weren't kelp forests, there weren't sea otters, and the fisheries had collapsed because of overfishing. Well now we have a strong fishing industry,

a strong conservation industry, a strong tourism industry, and all of these things are working together because we're managing it well. Well hey, let's take a little drive. Go look at some of the images we got. Look at them on the laptop.

Ashe: Yeah. Williams: We got a lot of good photos. Cheeseman: Awesome stuff. Williams: Terrific. Cheeseman: Yeah, follow me to a spot I have in mind. Williams: Okay. Ashe: All right.

(upbeat music) Cheeseman: Cool, let's check out some of these whales we photographed. Williams: Yeah, I can't wait. Cheeseman: I'm going to use your Toyota's Wi-Fi connect to upload these directly to Happywhale.

Williams: Very cool. Ashe: Okay. Cheeseman: So there you go, there's the whale with the killer whale scars. Ashe: Wow, yeah. Cheeseman: These markings match a known individual here. Williams: Yeah.

Cheeseman: Okay, here's another. I know by the catalog number this is a whale known from Mexico. Oh wow, really clear match here. This scar across the tail. Ashe: Mm-hmm. Williams: Yeah.

Cheeseman: I wonder if that was an entanglement. So here's our voyage track for the day. Ashe: Oh, look at that. Cheeseman: This is where the heart of the anchovy schools were in Monterey Bay.

You know, the human eye tends to focus on the most obvious features. The computer is taking a broader view, which is really important, I think, for the work that you want to do. So tell me about this white-sided dolphin. What do you use to identify it?

Ashe: Where we look at the distinctiveness of the fin. So if it has a nice notch like that, we're able to track that through time. Williams: Erin has a thousand to 2000 individuals in her catalog.

Ashe: Right. Williams: It takes months to match the photographs of that. This is exactly what we need to shrink that time from data collection to knowledge. Ashe: We'd be able to get estimates of how many there are

and information about their Williams: social network. Ashe: Societies, yes. Cheeseman: Our work could be really better together if we combine that effort, you know? And I mean it is so important to understand what's going on with these animals.

Williams: Let's do it. Cheeseman: Let's do it. (upbeat music) (gulls squawking) (gentle music) Cheeseman: The day with Rob and Erin was excellent. It's beautiful to connect with scientists like Rob

and Erin from Oceans Initiative. You know, they have this real inspiration and love of using good whale science to create better outcomes for managing oceans. Ashe: We had an incredible day out on the water with Ted, and it was fantastic to see the technology firsthand.

And I think this technology holds so much promise to protect whales and dolphins in the Pacific Northwest. Williams: And I'm just so excited to go back and start working together. Happywhale and Oceans Initiative, to work on killer whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins,

Humpback whales in the Pacific Northwest, and frankly, around the world. Cheeseman: I feel like Oceans Initiative and Happywhale can really go places together, with their science and inspiration, and our technology and know-how. Really, we're better together.

Go Whale Watching In Monterey, California, With Leading Conservationists | Business Insider

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고래 식별을 위해 AI를 활용한 연구 플랫폼으로 해피웨일이 소개됩니다.

연구원들은 고래 과학자들과 협력하기 위해 캘리포니아 모스 랜딩으로 향합니다.

몬터레이 베이에서의 경험은 특별하고 야생적인 것으로 묘사됩니다.

Happywhale의 AI를 이용한 고래 식별

연구원들이 고래를 관찰하고 사진을 찍습니다.

해피웨일의 AI를 사용하여 따개비 흉터 및 기타 특징과 일치하는 고래를 식별합니다.

고래의 특정 표식을 기록하고 이전에 목격된 고래와 대조합니다.

고래의 목격 이력을 추적할 수 있습니다.

이 지역의 과거 환경 문제에 대해 설명합니다.

낚시, 보존, 관광 등 현재 번성하고 있는 생태계가 강조됩니다.

팀은 사진을 검토하여 Happywhale에 업로드합니다.

이미지에서 특정 고래를 식별하고 고유한 표시를 확인할 수 있습니다.

상처를 입은 고래에 대해 논의하며 그 원인을 추측합니다.

멸치 떼와 연관된 항해 경로가 표시됩니다.

인간 관찰과 컴퓨터 관찰의 차이점에 대해 설명합니다.

과학자들은 수동 고래 식별의 시간 소모적인 특성에 대해 이야기합니다.

연구 속도를 높이고 인구 추정치를 제공할 수 있는 Happywhale의 잠재력이 강조되고 있습니다.

연구원들은 향후 협업에 대한 열의를 표명했습니다.

그날의 협업에 대한 긍정적인 소감이 공유됩니다.

고래 보존을 위한 해피웨일 기술의 잠재력이 강조되고 있습니다.

해피웨일과 오션스 이니셔티브와 관련된 향후 연구 계획의 윤곽이 드러났습니다.

연구원들은 두 기관이 힘을 합쳐 시너지 효과를 낼 수 있다는 믿음을 표명했습니다.