sharkPulse Validation Monitor

Abundance and distribution data of global shark populations is necessary for effective conservation and management. While there are operative direct methods to retrieve such data from scientific surveys and fisheries monitoring, species specific indices of population abundance coming from these sources are rare for most shark species. Yet, there is an abundance of unconventional and unstructured information within social networks that is virtually untapped and has great potential to fill the information gap characterizing shark populations. Social networks such as Flickr and Instagram provide data wells of shark sightings that can be data mined, but must be validated as genuine sightings. Despite its modern surge in popularity, there is little research that implements social media for shark conservation. Here, we show the biological importance of creating an application within sharkPulse to facilitate speedy validation by involving citizen scientists. The Monitor allows users to search a world map for potential shark sightings and fill out forms for popup balloons of these sightings. If it is indeed a shark, they may answer 'yes' and fill out the associative taxonomic information if they are familiar with the common and/or species name. They may also consult a sharkPulse identification guide if they are not familiar. The application was built with RShiny App software. The Validation Monitor can be used by anyone interested in these charismatic group of animals. The application can be found at sharkpulse.cnre.vt.edu/can-you-recognize/.