Shoreline shutterbugs: assessing human use of coastal environments with panoramic camera systems

Worldwide, human activities have left no area unaffected by anthropogenic influence and this is particularly so for densely populated coastlines. The sustainable management of coastal areas depends on the implementation of... [ view full abstract ]

Worldwide, human activities have left no area unaffected by anthropogenic influence and this is particularly so for densely populated coastlines. The sustainable management of coastal areas depends on the implementation of strategies that address anthropogenic activities to reduce their negative impacts. In Australia, recreationalists represent a large and influential proportion of people within coastal areas, yet information on actual patterns of use is limited. The development of cost-effective techniques to monitor patterns of use at management-relevant scales and timeframes is needed. Here we aim to investigate patterns of human use which occur on Sydney’s densely populated coastline. We tested the novel application of an “off-the-shelf” panoramic camera system to assess a wide range of extractive and non-extractive activities occurring at Sydney’s aquatic reserve and non-reserve sites, and at the Offshore Artificial Reef near Sydney’s South Head. The remotely-deployable system produces high-resolution, zoomable panoramas over a spatial extent up to 4 km, enabling assessment of use at various scales. Comparison of thousands of user observations from time-series data produced using the panoramic camera system and traditional survey techniques revealed that the novel system produces reliable estimates for a diverse range of activities, however the set up (lens size, field of view, rate of sampling), design and analysis strategy needed to be specifically configured for each application. The data produced can be used to answer pertinent management questions such as general use of Marine Protected Areas or to calculate specific metrics such as party size for fishing effort. While the system is marginally more expensive than other cameras currently in use, our studies suggest that this technology has the potential to greatly enhance evidence-based sustainable management of the coast.