Identification of Spotted Seals Becomes Faster and More Accurate... Introduction of AI 'Hotspotter'

Spotted seal.

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 25th that starting in April, it plans to introduce the artificial intelligence technology program 'Hotspotter,' used for identifying individual wild animals, into the identification survey of spotted seals.

Hotspotter is an AI technology program developed by the Department of Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the United States to prevent the extinction of the endangered Grevy's zebra. It is a technology that identifies individuals by analyzing unique characteristics of organisms.

Like the Grevy's zebra, each spotted seal has unique spots and patterns similar to human fingerprints, and they have unique identification numbers based on these characteristics.

Until now, to investigate the habitat behavior of spotted seals, thousands of photos of specific parts of the seals had to be visually compared one by one. This process took a lot of time, and the analysis results varied depending on the skill and concentration of the analyst, causing difficulties in managing individual spotted seals.

Accordingly, the National Institute of Fisheries Science Whale Research Center applied Hotspotter on a trial basis last year to identify individual spotted seals captured in photos. As a result, based on one year’s data analysis, the analysis time was reduced from 40 hours to 4 hours, one-tenth of the previous method. It was also confirmed that accuracy improved.

A Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official said, "Through AI technology, it is expected that the identification of individual spotted seals will become more accurate and faster," adding, "Based on accurate survey results, we will further strengthen the protection and management of spotted seals, which are marine protected species."

Meanwhile, spotted seals breed in the Liaodong Bay area of China during winter and migrate to the Baengnyeongdo area from spring to autumn to inhabit. Since 2006, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has been conducting the 'Spotted Seal Habitat Survey' to protect spotted seals designated as marine protected species, and in 2018, an artificial shelter was established.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.