Ecobreves – BRAZIL: New Marine Biology Image Bank Launched

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 14 2011 (IPS) - Two researchers at the University of São Paulo have set up a public digital image bank comprising 260 videos and 11,000 super high-resolution photographs cataloguing Brazil’s marine biodiversity. The Cifonauta website, developed by researchers Alvaro Esteves Migotto and Bruno Vellutini, will serve as a shared repository of scientific data and images. Its contents are licensed under Creative Commons, which means they can be freely reproduced and shared as long as their source is mentioned and they are not used for commercial purposes.

"We have been setting up the project and collecting the images for more than two years. Brazil’s ocean coastline is vast and we know very little about it. The images are tools for spreading awareness, because they inspire curiosity and reflection on the enormous diversity of the oceans," Vellutini told Tierramérica.

The photographs were taken with digital cameras coupled with optical or electron microscopes, which can increase resolution by up to 1,000 times.