Although they cover over 70% of our planet, only 0.6% of the world oceans are protected. It is estimated that we only know about 1 in 10 species in the ocean, which is unsurprising given that 90% of the ocean is more than half a mile deep and still remains largely unexplored. How might technology help us discover, understand and protect the vulnerable ecosystems below the waterline?
Marine Conservation is a fast-growing group in the WILDLABS community, capturing a wide variety of tech expertise within its member base, including those working with bioacoustic gear and hydrophones, AUVs and drones, sensors, machine learning, and more. By bringing together WILDLABS members from so many areas of conservation tech, the Marine Conservation group is the perfect place to collaborate on big, complex issues like marine biodiversity monitoring, coral reef health, plastic pollution, and sustainability.
The Marine Conservation group forum is also your place to chat about and solve the challenges unique to using conservation technology in marine environments. Whether you're struggling with deep-sea connectivity or salt water impacting gear longevity, or looking for remote solutions for long-term reef monitoring or biologging data collection, this group wants to help you explore the possibilities!
Check out some of the key marine conservation tech resources, conversations, and virtual events from across the WILDLABS platform:
Tutorials and Talks to Watch on Demand:
- Virtual Meetups: Developing cost-effective, open-source marine megafauna tracking, Jake Levenson
- Tech Tutors: How do I use open source remote sensing data to monitor fishing?, Max Schofield
- Virtual Meetups: eDNA for Aquatic Biodiversity, Alice Valentini
Case Studies, Tools, Research, and News:
- Southern Right Whales & Genome and Satellite Technology, Emma Carroll | eDNA & genomics, satellite data, biodiversity monitoring, climate change
- Building Experts Into AI, Whale Seeker | Machine learning, marine conservation, AI ethics
- Using AIS Data to Investigate the World’s Fishing Ports, Max Schofield | Remote sensing, data visualisation, fishing monitoring
- Small-scale fisheries and tech resources, Dan Steadman | Fishery monitoring, webinars, best practices
- Press Release: BAS Giant Iceberg Mission, British Antarctic Survey | Climate change, AUVs, remote sensing
- Case Study: Thermal imaging, drones, and loggerhead sea turtles, Megan Ossmann | FLIR, Duo Pro R camera, drones
- eDNA sampling to detect invasive snails in shipping ballast water, Gavin Shelton | Invasive species, eDNA, shipping
- Sustainable Fishing Challenges: Fish Catch Monitoring, Dan Steadman | Biologging, sensors, fishing monitoring
Conversations and Questions:
- Satellite tags for marine turtle recommendations | Alasdair Davies
- Calling all hydrophone users! | Team Open Acoustic Devices
- How difficult is it to build a buoy and constrain it in place? | Lindy Knowles
- Methods to detect Derelict Fishing Gear | Nandini Mehrotra
- Drone Mapping for Algal Blooms? | Harold Tay
- Minimising habitat impact of trawling gear | Dan Steadman
- Estimating carbon from 3d models of mangroves | Mark Brown
- Can we detect gillnets in turbid water? | Aurélie Shapiro
- New low cost DIY temperature loggers for reef monitoring | Harold Tay
- Machine learning to detect fish bomb blasts | Jamie Macaulay
Header Image: Emma Vogel
- @NevilleCLS
- | He/Him
CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites)
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 14 Groups
- @volkankorkmaz
- | volkan
I have been working at the Underwater Association , to protect nature since 94 . Since 1992, I have been a PADI diving instructor
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
- @HannahJasinski
- | She/Her
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
- @rachelpool
- | She/Her
Early-career researcher interested in marine conservation
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 4 Groups
Technologist, birder, photographer and mountain guide.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 18 Groups
- @vandita_shukla
- | she/her
PhD candidate studying drone flight planning for enabling tracking and identification of individual characteristics of wildlife; member of the WildDrone, an MSCA Doctoral Network funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 20 Groups
- @amykukulya
- | she/her
Amy Kukulya is an ocean tech innovator and conservationist from the US. She has captured thrilling footage of megafauna using novel biologger and oceanrobotCams—SharkCam, TurtleCam featured across the globe on mainstream media outlets.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 7 Groups
- @TheDataEnthusiastic
- | He/Him
Hi, I'm pursuing Master's in Data Science. And I want work help protect nature and wildlife.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 14 Groups
Program Officer, Conservation Technology Program, WCS
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
- @aleontiou
- | she/her
- 0 Resources
- 10 Discussions
- 7 Groups
Founder & CEO of we.are.tohorā, creating a community that cares about whales, the environment and each other.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 13 Groups
- @LindyClydeKnowles
- | he/him
- 0 Resources
- 6 Discussions
- 6 Groups
Article
New app aims to take a bite out of illegal shark fin trade
Conservation International
Powered by artificial intelligence, a new app called Fin Finder enables customs inspectors to take a photo of a shark or ray fin and identify it within seconds. Developed by Conservation International in partnership...
14 June 2022
Article
Hundreds of tons of the toxic chemical have likely littered the ocean floor near Santa Catalina Island for decades.
4 June 2022
Article
"A drone emitting orca sounds will be used in attempt to guide the animal, whose health is fast deteriorating"
1 June 2022
June 2025
October 2025
event
Lacey Hughey and 3 more
December 2023
November 2023
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The SMART Partnership will be attending the International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC4) hosted in La Serena, Chile, from the... |
|
Marine Conservation | 7 years 9 months ago | |
| The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, together with The Prince of Wales’s International Sustainability Unit, have announced the launch of... |
|
Marine Conservation | 8 years ago | |
| Hello all! There is an upcoming seminar on turtles in Yonkers, NY on Saturday, March 25th. If you care about turtles, you... |
|
Marine Conservation | 8 years 2 months ago | |
| We are starting to deploy buoys to demarcate no entry, no-take zones in a recently declared Marine Fisheries Management Area in Cambodia,... |
|
Marine Conservation | 8 years 5 months ago | |
| Hi Steph, Sorry for the late reply as I have other commitments currently. In our case, we are using facial scales pattern because we found out that each individual... |
|
Marine Conservation | 8 years 7 months ago | |
| This news made me so happy this morning.. a fish chorus, what a delightful thought! And you can even listen to it! |
|
Marine Conservation | 8 years 8 months ago | |
| The Niskin bottle, a seemingly simple tube designed to take water samples at discrete depths, is one of the most important tools of... |
|
Marine Conservation | 8 years 11 months ago | |
| The Coral Trait Database houses physiological, morphological, ecological, phylogenetic and biogeographic trait information with the... |
|
Marine Conservation | 9 years ago | |
| Algae technology is central to innovation to conserve biodiversity against the threats of climate change. I am part of a global scientific group called Ocean Foresters.... |
|
Marine Conservation | 9 years ago | |
| An upcoming NOAA webinar might be of interest to this group: Ocean Exploration & MPAs: Priorities, Technological... |
|
Marine Conservation | 9 years 2 months ago | |
| Hi John, Have you checked out Whale Alert? There may be some scope for applying/adapting the same technology for averting manatee strikes by applying it to the... |
|
Marine Conservation | 9 years 2 months ago | |
| A new article argues that aesthically pleasing reefs are healthy reefs: 'This shows that mathematical approaches designed to assess... |
|
Marine Conservation | 9 years 5 months ago |
