The Importance of a Single Photo
Many of the world's research breakthroughs have their origins in a single photo taken by an ordinary person — whether it was an accidental shot of unusual animal behaviour or a massive egg mass spotted in the sea. A single photo can catch the attention of a researcher, spark a study, and ultimately deepen our understanding of the environment and the ecosystem.
Research should not be locked away in ivory towers. Citizen science is more important than ever in this day and age: it can expand the scope of research and give people a direct role in understanding our environment. We know so little about the ocean in particular, which makes it all the more essential that everyone gets involved in learning about the sea that is ours to steward.
Marco Chang has been actively involved in marine citizen science projects in recent years.
Taking Action to Join the Movement
Marco Chang, one of Taiwan's most prominent underwater photographers, has in recent years gradually shifted his underwater photography practice toward promoting underwater citizen monitoring programmes. In 2020 — a year when Taiwan's waters experienced the most severe coral bleaching on record — he not only documented the shocking scene of coral bleaching with frame after frame of powerful images, but also took concrete action to help bring a marine citizen science initiative to life.
From September to December 2020, Marco assisted a non-profit organisation in launching a coral monitoring programme across Taiwan. The project aimed to engage divers and underwater photographers from different parts of Taiwan to regularly document coral bleaching conditions at fixed locations. However, a great deal of groundwork and discussion had to happen first: which corals were locally significant indicators? Which individual coral colonies were accessible enough to photograph? Were there nearby reference markers that could serve as fixed points for long-term records? All of this preliminary work was critical to the success of the marine citizen science project.
Echinophyllia sp. coral at Shilang, Green Island, Taiwan, following the coral bleaching event of summer 2020.
A marine citizen science project is not simply about crafting a slogan and handing it off to the public to execute. It requires a well-designed standard operating procedure so that the data collected by participants actually holds scientific value.
Visibility and lighting conditions during underwater photography can also greatly affect image quality. Different photographers use different aperture and shutter settings, and different white balance configurations — meaning that even photographs of the same coral colony may show noticeable differences in colour. This is why Marco spent considerable time at the outset of the project working with his team to develop a standardised shooting protocol.
Marine citizen science projects require pre-dive training and effective team communication.
There is also a fundamental difference between artistic underwater photography and research photography. Photographers often capture stunning shots that, unfortunately, have little scientific value. For example, photographers love to capture a fish head-on or frame its eye as the focal point — unaware that researchers identifying certain species need a clear lateral view showing the distribution of fins for accurate species identification. If the key tips for photographing each species in a way that aids identification could be systematically compiled, and given how cheap it now is to take a photo in the digital age, photographers could simply fire off a few extra frames after capturing their artistic shot — and in doing so, might just get a photo with genuine scientific value.
Over the four months of island-wide underwater monitoring, Marco witnessed scenes that were truly staggering. The Dabai Sha (Big White Sand) dive site at Green Island was once known for its exceptionally high coral coverage, but after the abnormal warming of ocean temperatures in the summer of 2020, more than 80% of corals within 15 m of the surface in that area had bleached. Even after water temperatures dropped in autumn and winter, the symbiotic algae that should have returned to live within the coral polyps still had not recovered, leaving more than 50% of corals smothered by large macroalgae and effectively dead.
Left: Porites sp. coral at Xiaoliuqiu, Taiwan, following the 2020 coral bleaching event. Right: the same coral after partial recovery through autumn and winter.
Coral bleaching does not mean the coral is dead — it simply means the symbiotic algae have temporarily departed. If conditions recover, the symbiotic algae have a chance to return. But in the meantime, the coral polyps are weakened by the absence of the energy the algae provide, and are therefore far more vulnerable to environmental stress or being smothered by macroalgae — which can lead to death.
Marco believes that a photographer's work should have a soul. That soul might come from wanting to enter a competition, from the simple desire to capture a friend's joy underwater, or from hoping that a single image can shift the public's perception of the ocean. There are many cases internationally where significant scientific research has been triggered by a photographer's casual snap. You often have no way of knowing that the shutter click you just made — a composition you considered utterly unremarkable — might represent a rare species or a unique behavioural observation in the eyes of a marine scientist. After all, humanity has explored only about 5% of the ocean's total area.
Taiwan's underwater world is home to a rich and diverse coral ecosystem.
The ocean is in decline. A growing body of research has made clear that our generation will witness this vast transformation within our own lifetimes. Every shutter click we make underwater has the potential to become a cornerstone of Taiwan's marine research, and may even contribute to helping Taiwan address the impacts of extreme climate events. Perhaps that is another calling for the marine citizen scientist.
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