3. Queen conch abundance

Overview

I had a bit of free time recently and used Arduino and Raspberry Pi technology to build a low-cost sensor to count queen conch (Strombus gigas).  My aim was to create a computer-automated sensor to estimate the queen conch density in the shallow sounds around the Cayman Islands, this follows my Masters project that I will describe on another page.  Below is a photo of the sensor (it’s a bit Heath Robinson at present but works).  Simply put, the operator connects the Raspberry Pi to the battery and tows the box at low speed across the surface of the water.  The sensor is programmed to take photos of the ocean floor, these photos are stamped for location (latitude and longitude), time and depth and stored on the USB flash drive.  Eventually, I hope to use image recognition software to count the number of conch in each photo and the conch abundance density (conch per metre squared) can then be calculated automatically and in real time.