HMCS Yukon: A Case Study in Marine Citizen Science

The HMCS Yukon is a 366 ft long former Canadian warship that was sunk in about 100 ft of water off the coast of San Diego, California (32.7800, -117.2853) in 2000 to act as an artificial reef. The first scientific study of the marine life on the Yukon was done in 2005 by the San Diego Oceans Foundation and Dr. Ed Parnell of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. This study documents the current changes in marine biodiversity colonizing the shipwreck since the previous study. High resolution cameras and iNaturalist, a citizen science app maintained by the California Academy of Sciences, were used to inventory the taxonomic diversity of marine life on the HMCS Yukon as of 2020.

Citation

Bear, M., et. al (2025), HMCS Yukon: A Case Study in Marine Citizen Science, Community Science Exchange, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025CSE000102. Published 11 August 2025.