01 / 10 · TIDE
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OwlHacks 2026 · Deep Sea Aquatics
Theodore, Issaka & Oliver
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◎ ClickTap any creature to find it in the field guide
02The problem· 40 m
3.1 billion
people get at least one-fifth of their animal protein from aquatic animal foods
FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2026 ↗89%
of aquatic animal production goes to human consumption
FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2026 ↗600M+
livelihoods are supported by the aquatic food sector
FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2026 ↗64.5%
of assessed global marine fishery stocks were exploited within biologically sustainable levels in 2021
FAO, Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources 2025 (2021 data) ↗And out on the dock, whether a fish or a crab is okay to keep usually comes down to memory and a guess. That's the moment TIDE is for.
03Why it matters· 150 m
Food
Fish, crabs and clams feed families all over the world — ours included.
Fishing
For a lot of people it's how the weekend goes: a line off the pier, a trap off the dock.
Conservation
Keep an undersized fish or a crab carrying eggs, and there are fewer of them next season.
Families
A lot of us learned from a parent or a grandparent, on the same water they fished.
Future generations
What we take today decides what our kids and grandkids get to see.
04The people· 400 m
The ocean was part of our lives long before this hackathon.
Fishing with family
Honestly I've lost count of how many times I've been fishing. Mostly with my family, sometimes with friends, and some of my favorite days ever happened out on the water.
The more time you spend out there, the more you wonder what's actually under the surface. TIDE lets anyone snap a pic and find out, and tells you when it's something that needs protecting.
Crabbing in South Jersey
I've been fishing with my grandparents and my friends basically forever. Bass sometimes, but mostly crabbing off the marsh, from the first warm days of summer until we were pulling traps by moonlight.
Every time you pull one up it's the same questions. Is it four and a half inches? Is that a sponge under her? Is it even legal here? Guess wrong and either you broke the law or you kept a crab that should've gone back.
So we built the thing I always wanted. My phone is the crab gauge, it knows the rules wherever I'm standing, and if I hook something endangered it tells me to let it go. I really care about this water.
LIVE
The fish that started it
“When I was a kid I brought home a pet fish, put him in the wrong kind of water, and he was gone in about an hour. I cried.”
Drawn to the ocean
I feel a deep pull toward the ocean. I think about the creatures who live there, from the fish I catch to the dolphins I see diving through the waves.
“I remember trying to swim up to a dolphin as a kid, no matter how much the lifeguards blew the whistle.”
05The idea· 900 m
01 · Camera or upload
Snap it on the dock or the trail. Any phone browser — nothing to install.
02 · Gemini Flash
Google Gemini names the animal, with a confidence score and look-alikes.
03 · Field guide
Matched to TIDE's field guide of the species people actually run into here.
04 · IUCN · GBIF
Its IUCN Red List status, checked live through GBIF.
05 · NJ · PA · MD
Your state's size limits, seasons and egg rules — each one cited and dated.
06 · The call
Keep it, release it, leave it or report it. A recipe only for a legal keeper.
Recorded in TIDE: a photo goes in, the verdict comes out.
06The app· 1,600 m
It runs in any phone's browser — nothing to install. The phone beside this is the real thing, not a recording. Tap around.
Check my catch
Keep or release, from your state's size, season and egg rules.
Found one
Turtles and amphibians: leave it, help it across the road, or call it in.
Crab gauge
Calibrate once with a bank card and your phone shows the legal line.
Demo Mode
Six real scenarios that still work with no signal.
07Live identification· 2,400 m
Gemini reads the photo and names the animal, with a confidence score and look-alikes.
TIDE matches it to its field guide and checks the name against GBIF and the IUCN Red List.
Pick your state. TIDE applies the size, egg and season rules and makes the call — with a recipe only if it's a keeper.
If Gemini can't be reached, TIDE offers the result it gave for this photo earlier, labelled as a demo scan.
Drag the current · tap one for its verdict
08Conservation vs. seafood· 4,000 m
A species can be doing fine worldwide and still be overfished off your coast, protected by law, or carrying next year's crabs. So TIDE checks more than the Red List — and only offers a recipe when every check passes.
ProtectedLeast Concern worldwide, and still protected by US law and CITES. Leave it, and call it in if it's hurt.
Do Not Consume
No recipes
EndangeredLegal to keep in New Jersey at 9 inches, but Endangered worldwide. TIDE suggests letting it go.
Let It Go
No recipes
Common seafoodA keeper in New Jersey at 4½ inches point to point, as long as she isn't carrying eggs.
Common Seafood
Blue Crab Cakes with Herb Aioli
Sustainability concernLeast Concern, but closely managed: New Jersey allows one fish from 28 to just under 31 inches.
Check Local Guidance
Crispy Beer-Battered Striped Bass
InvasiveDoing fine in its native Asia, invasive here. Don't put it back — and it's good eating.
Common Seafood
Garlic Butter SnakeheadSame logic as the app: recipes appear only when a species passes every check, and disappear on their own if live data moves it to Endangered.
50 species · scroll for more
Chelonia mydas
Harvesting, selling or eating green sea turtles is illegal across most of their range. Their recovery is the direct result of those protections staying in place.
Recipes: withheld · alternatives offered
Open in TIDE ↗09Projected outcomes· 10,935 m
10,935 m · Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the ocean
On one side, published numbers about the people and animals TIDE is for. On the other, our targets for TIDE's first twelve months — projections, not results.
Real-world data · published
57.9M
Americans went fishing in 2024, a record
RBFF, 2025 Special Report on Fishing ↗1.1B
fish were caught by US saltwater anglers in 2023, and 65% of them were released
NOAA Fisheries, Fisheries of the United States ↗41%
of amphibian species are threatened with extinction
IUCN Global Amphibian Assessment, Nature 2023 ↗54%
of turtle and tortoise species are threatened
IUCN Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, 2025 ↗TIDE · projected 12-month targets
85–90%Projected
identification accuracy across supported marine species1
50%+Projected
of seafood-related sessions interact with sustainability or conservation information before recipes2
10,000+Projected
marine-life identifications in year one3
25,000+Projected
species and conservation information views in year one4
How we'd measure the targets
What funding would change
10 · 0 m · Resurfaced
TIDE
See it. Identify it. Understand it. Protect it.
Theodore, Issaka and Oliver · OwlHacks 2026 · identification by Google Gemini
TIDE · OwlHacks 2026 · Deep Sea Aquatics
Theodore, Issaka and Oliver
See it. Identify it. Understand it. Protect it.