How are observations validated?

Similar to the previous question, this answer depends on the question being asked. For example if your team is looking at social values, the blue economy, etc. (like the Our Ocean in COVID-19 project) then the identification of specific species does not matter because the focus is what activity the user was doing and for how long (the activity tracker!). This same logic applies to questions entered around garbage, ghost gear, and other threats.

Proper species ID is required for teams studying specific species. Here the concern of a user mixing up a shark with a dolphin is low because broad observations of ‘shark’ or ‘dolphin’ will likely not be used by the teams because they are more focused on specific species i.e. the ‘blacktip reef shark/C. melanopterus’. Therefore concern over improper ID is minimized because the people recording species specific observations are usually familiar with the species and have experience identifying it.

QAQC protocols are then used to validate observations. This is done by comparing observations made at similar times in the same area. For example, if someone sees a bull shark but a bunch of people at the same site are recording a sandbar shark, the bull shark will get flagged as an outlier. To minimize the human error of misrecording a species, a ‘recents’ section appears while recording observations to help the user remember what species they recorded last and lessen the likelihood of selecting the wrong species by accident.