Facial recognition can help conserve seals, scientists say

By PATRICK WHITTLE
Associated Press

FREEPORT, Maine (AP) — Facial recognition technology is mostly associated with uses such as surveillance and the authentication of human faces, but a group of scientists believe they’ve found a new use for it: saving seals. A research team at Colgate University has developed SealNet, a database of seal faces created by taking pictures of dozens of harbor seals in Maine’s Casco Bay. The team found its accuracy at identifying the marine mammals is close to 100%, which is no small accomplishment in an ecosystem home to thousands of seals. The researchers are working on expanding their database to make it available to other scientists.