Causes and Effects visualizes California sea lion unusual mortality events (UME) to create a new layer of understanding of the situation as an important environmental issue. It examines the causes of and impacts on sea lion UME by controlling multivariate factors that impact sea lions’ health and stranding. Previous visualizations for sea lion mortality only captured temporal data and the relationship between causes and effects using simple graphs. However, sea lion UME results from multiple causes and it requires multivariate visualization to establish clear solutions for future results. The resulting images of our visualization are not only visually appealing but also allow users to explore how environmental factors impact the lives and situations of sea lions. The visualization using connected circles addresses important issues related the nature’s never-ending cycles and infinite continuations in many aspects.
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Elevated stranding of California sea lion pups have occurred in Southern California since January 2013 for unknown reasons. This event has been declared an unusual mortality event (UME). The number of California sea lions has been decreasing due to many factors, and the exact mechanism behind this trend is still under investigation. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), various influences have impacted these sea lion pups. Sardine spawning grounds shifted further offshore in 2012 and 2013, and while other prey was available (market squid and rockfish), they may not have provided adequate nutrition for the milk of sea lion mothers supporting pups or for newly weaned pups foraging on their own. Findings indicate a lack of high-quality, nearby food sources for nursing mothers. How can we visualize the multivariate, unclear reasons effectively?
We aimed to create an interactive data-driven work that explores artistic experience and engagement with the audience, which is critical because the audience is part of the artwork and the artwork evolves based on their input. This data-driven artwork was designed to raise awareness for environmental projection and serious issue on the ocean environment and animals. It provokes attention by showing simple and intuitive visualization using infinity loop format and emphasis on aesthetics.
The main goal of this project is to examine a new way of visualizing causes and effects of the California sea lion data to address the relationships between nature, animals and impacts of various causes driven from the global warming. In order to achieve this goal, several detailed approaches have been used in this project like below:
• Infinity loop as a visual metaphor to represent cause-effect relationship
• Simple visual representation to address the significant environmental issue
• Screen-based visualization vs. Physical installation
• Interactivity for both overview and details on demand
For now, The Marine Mammal Center is tackling this current crisis one sea lion at a time. “What’s scary is that we don’t know when this will end.” says Director of Veterinary Science at The Marine Mammal center. “This could be the new normal— a changed environment that we’re dealing with now.” For now, The Marine Mammal Center is tackling this current crisis one sea lion at a time. “What’s scary is that we don’t know when this will end.” says Director of Veterinary Science at The Marine Mammal center. “This could be the new normal— a changed environment that we’re dealing with now.”
