Crowdsourcing helps find missing boat

http://blog.tomnod.com/tunante-concludes/

"On August 26^th 2014, the Tunante II, a 12.5 meter-long yacht with four crew on board, declared emergency during a storm off the coast of Brazil. Within hours, the Argentinian and Brazilian governments pulled together a search & rescue force.
A Tomnod campaign request was submitted and approved, and a satellite tasking order was placed. As planes were forced to suspend their search due to bad weather, Tomnod loaded satellite images online so thousands of people around the world could scan each pixel of the South Atlantic Ocean looking for clues of the missing boat.
Renewed Hope
During the course of the search, both governments halted and resumed their active participation for various reasons. However on October 8^th, an image was tagged on Tomnod which matched the description and projected location of the Tunante II."

Here's an example in which a mass of volunteers do a simple task to help someone in need.