3D Animations of Fish Movements in MPAs Underway

Video still of the study areas off Carmel. Credit: Alberto Guzman, CSU Monterey Bay

Related Information

Research Contacts:

James Lindholm
Science and Environmental Policy
CSU Monterey Bay
T: (831) 582-4662
E: james_lindholm@csumb.edu

Fred Watson
Science and Environmental Policy
CSU Monterey Bay
T: (831) 582-4452
E: fred_watson@csumb.edu

Rick Starr
California Sea Grant Marine Advisor
Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties
Moss Landing Marine Laboratories

T: (831) 632-4441
E: starr@mlml.calstate.edu

Relevant Links:

Institute for Applied Marine Ecology

Ecosystem Science and Visualization

Revised:

April 28, 2008

Contact: Christina S. Johnson, csjohnson@ucsd.edu, 858-822-5334

Two CSU Monterey Bay biologists have been awarded a $10,000 grant from NOAA's California Sea Grant to produce pilot 3D animation videos of fish movements in the Carmel Bay State Marine Conservation Area and Carmel Pinnacles State Marine Reserve.

The recipients of the award, biologists James Lindholm and Fred Watson, say the videos will help people see what fish are doing and how they interact with complex seafloor topography.

For the pilot project, only one species of fish will be modeled, the blue rockfish, which was selected, in part, because it is commonly seen during California Department of Fish and Game diver surveys. The fish tracking data that will be rendered into images of swimming fish will come from existing tracking data, collected by an acoustic array deployed in Carmel Bay by California Sea Grant Marine Advisor Rick Starr. More than three years of tracking data have been collected by the array for several species, including blue rockfish. An additional 10 blue rockfish will be tagged in the study sites and actively tracked for three one-month periods.

"There is no make-believe here," said Lindholm, who is the director of CSU Monterey's Institute for Applied Marine Ecology. "It is real data rendered in three dimensions. It is compelling."

The video animation clips will be shown to stakeholder groups such as SCUBA divers and sport fishers to explain the purpose and goals of marine reserves. Where appropriate the animations will also show reserve boundaries, and the scientists plan to calculate the percent of a fish's time spent inside and outside the reserve.

"We can test the efficacy of existing reserves," Lindholm said.

The seafloor habitat in Carmel Bay consists of rock reef, kelp forest and sand flats, while Carmel Pinnacles is the site of dramatic steep peaks. Besides outreach to the public, a goal of the project is to compare fish movements in the different habitat areas.

Animation videos similar to the ones that will be produced during this project were created for Yellowstone National Park, to visualize the extent of the snow pack and bison migrations. There is also a pilot project underway to visualize marine life at Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Demonstration clips can be viewed at http://ecoviz.csumb.edu/home/.