Redmap: Community Sightings of Marine Invertebrates in Western Australia

Redmap is a community science platform collecting sightings of uncommon marine invertebrate species along the coast of Western Australia. The dataset includes verified sightings with photos and anecdotal sightings without photos, mapped to track potential changes in species distribution over time. Data collection is managed by the Australian Ocean Data Network and includes species, location, date/time, and optional biological and environmental information.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial shifts in species distributions based on mapped community sightings.
• Study the relationship between species sightings and environmental variables like water temperature and depth.
• Compare the reliability of verified photo sightings versus anecdotal community sightings.
• Model potential climate change impacts on marine invertebrate populations in Western Australia.

Strengths

• Includes both verified (with photo) and community (anecdotal) sightings, providing two tiers of data quality.
• Collects optional biological data (sex, size, weight) and environmental data (water depth, temperature, habitat).
• Data is live and will change over time, allowing for longitudinal analysis.

Limitations

• Spatial elements have reduced accuracy.
• Subject to a three-year embargo; does not contain data less than three years old.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Community-submitted sightings via the Redmap website, with verification by marine biologists for photo submissions.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-05 00:33:34.868363; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Western Australia coast