Bleach Patrol: Rockland-Based Citizen-Science Project to Study Reefs Worldwide

In recent months, coral reefs worldwide have been undergoing drastic bleaching due to ocean warming, and there is an urgent need to better understand the effects, say scientists from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Rockland County.

In a new citizen-science project, surfers, divers and other ocean folks haves started gathering real-time data and images on reefs globally.

Data is being sent via an i-phone app to marine scientists at the observatory for analysis.

The idea is to crowd-source scientific data from many locations, using nonscientists who are already there. The joint project just started. Columbia and the World Surf League announced it Tuesday, via a press conference at Lamont.