Posted by Leticia Lago – Developer Advertising and marketing

When environmental science scholar Caitlin returned dwelling from a visit monitoring sea turtles in Western Australia, she was impressed to create a conservation device that might enhance monitoring of the species. She linked with a French developer and fellow marine life fanatic Nicolas to design their app We Spot Turtles!, permitting anybody to assist monitoring efforts by importing photos of them noticed within the wild.

Caitlin and Nicolas shared their journey in our newest movie for #WeArePlay, which showcases the superb tales behind apps and video games on Google Play. We caught up with the pair to seek out out extra about their ardour and the way they’re making strides in direction of advancing sea turtle conservation.

Inform us about the way you each bought excited about sea turtle conservation?

Caitlin: Just a few years in the past, I did a sea turtle monitoring program for the Division of Biodiversity, Conservation and Points of interest in Western Australia. It was most likely one of the magical experiences of my life. After that, I made a decision I solely actually needed to work with sea turtles.

Nicolas: In 2010, in French Polynesia, I volunteered with a sea turtle safety mission. I used to be moved by the expertise, and once I got here again to France, I knew I needed to make use of my tech background to create one thing impressed by the journey.

How did these experiences lead you to create We Spot Turtles!?

Caitlin: There are seven species of sea turtle, and all are critically endangered. Or quite there’s not sufficient knowledge on them to tell an correct endangerment standing. This implies the wants of the species are going unmet and sea turtles are silently going extinct. Our inspiration is actually to raised monitor sea turtles in order that conservation may be improved.

Nicolas: Once I returned to France after monitoring sea turtles, I knew I needed to make an app impressed by my expertise. Nonetheless, I had put the mission on maintain for some time. Then, when a pal despatched me Caitlin’s social media submit on the lookout for a developer for a sea turtle conservation app, it re-ignited my inspiration, and we teamed as much as make it collectively.

What does We Spot Turtles! do?

Caitlin: Primarily, members of the general public add pictures of sea turtles they spot – and even get to call them. Then, the app routinely geolocates, giving us a date and timestamp of when and the place the ocean turtle was situated. This permits us to trace turtles and enhance our conservation efforts.

How do you utilize synthetic intelligence within the app?

Caitlin: The developments in AI in recent times have given us the chance to make a much bigger impression than we might have been capable of in any other case. The machine studying mannequin that Nicolas created makes use of the facial scale and pigmentations of the turtles to not solely establish its species, but additionally to provide that sea turtle a singular code for monitoring functions. Then, whether it is photographed by another person sooner or later, we will see on the app the place it has been noticed earlier than.

How has Google Play supported your journey?

Caitlin: Launching our app on Google Play has allowed us to achieve a world viewers. We now have communities in Exmouth in Western Australia, Manly Seaside in Sydney, and have 6 nations in whole utilizing our app already. With out Google Play, we would not have the power to attach on such a world scale.

Nicolas: I’m a cell utility developer and I take advantage of Google’s Flutter framework. I knew Google Play was a very good place to launch our title because it simply permits us to work on the platform. Because of this, we’ve been capable of make the app nice.

What do you hope to attain with We Spot Turtles!?

Caitlin: We Spot Turtles! places knowledge assortment within the arms of the individuals. It’s giving everybody the chance to make an impression in sea turtle conservation. Due to this, we imagine that we will massively alter and redefine conservation efforts and improve individuals’s engagement with the pure world.

What are your plans for the long run?

Caitlin: Nicolas and I’ve some large plans. We need to department out into different species. We would like to do whale sharks, birds, and pink pandas. In the end, we need to obtain our aim of bettering the conservation of varied species and animals all over the world.

Uncover different inspiring app and recreation founders featured in #WeArePlay.