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
No showcases have been added to this group yet.
- @kara_birk
- | She/Her
Advancing the international partner engagement work of ABALOBI, a tech platform aimed at integrating small-scale fishers into information and resource networks.
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- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
- 2 Resources
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- 8 Groups
Applied ML for Sustainable Fisheries, Co-Founder of OnDeck Fisheries AI
- 0 Resources
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- 4 Groups
- @brittanypalmer
- | she/her
Entrepreneur and environmental attorney with a passion for wildlife conservation.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 4 Groups
TechnoSmArt
I am an ornithologist, have been working with GPS tracking of both seabirds and terrestrial birds. I have been involved also in conservation projects in Italy, Chile and Ecuador

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- 5 Groups
Drone Operator and Tech Developer


- 0 Resources
- 33 Discussions
- 9 Groups
I am a ecologist and conservationist particularly excited about tech to aid biodiversity monitoring with a growing interest in analytics and AI. I am also a Project Manager at Rainforest Connection.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
A budding marine biologist interested in studying the biodiversity of nearshore habitats.
- 0 Resources
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- 4 Groups
- @Ymuyia
- | She/her
I am a marine Conservationist based in Kenya, I currently work at REEFolution Trust, a non profit that works to restore corals of the Wasini Channel
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 2 Groups
- @VeraKloettschen
- | she/her
Vera conceptualises and implements environmental projects and strategies. Her passions are NBS, Climate Finance and Circular Economy.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- @willgertler
- | he/him/his
Co-Founder & CEO, Kumbatia Seafood. Passionate about small-scale fisheries, regenerative ingredient sourcing, and sustainable coastal development.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
- @billardball8
- | She/Her
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 6 Groups
The Mesoamerican Reef Fund ( MAR Fund ) calls proposals for its small grants program and for the Reef Rescue Initiative. | El Fondo para el Sistema Arrecifal Mesoamericano (MAR Fund) convoca propuestas para su programa...
3 October 2024
The Connected Conservation is thrilled to announce our award's third round in collaboration with the Airbus Foundation. This award champions the use of cutting-edge satellite imagery to tackle biodiversity loss and...
30 September 2024
The Coral Research & Development Accelerator Platform opened it's Coral Accelerator Program 2024 for internationally collaborating teams to apply with innovative projects ranging from 'novel early-phase' to 'final...
26 August 2024
Seeking expressions of interest from PhD candidates to join the MAVE Lab at the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia
26 August 2024
Join us for Season Five of the WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Series, tuning in to the world of Bioacoustics! Laying the groundwork for our new horizon scan research, each event will convene cross-sector experts to explore a...
22 August 2024
Join us in celebrating this year’s Judging Panele Award winners!
19 August 2024
Join us in celebrating this year’s Community Choice Award winners!
15 August 2024
Vote for your favorite submissions that best demonstrate conservation impact, novel innovation/discovery, and strong storytelling of the work and the sector.
12 August 2024
We’re taking a look at past and current submissions that feature the fastest growing areas of conservation tech: movement ecology, AI, aquatic conservation, and bioacoustics. Today’s topic: aquatic conservation!
8 August 2024
Read our exciting interview with Samuel Mangi, a Marine Expert working to conserve sea turtles at Bahari Hai in Watamu using underwater monitoring tools and cloud storage.
19 July 2024
Discover the challenges marine animals face in busy shipping lanes—from the constant noise disrupting their habitats to the threat of ship collisions. Slowing down ships could offer a simple yet effective solution to...
8 July 2024
Come and do the first research into responsible AI for biodiversity monitoring, developing ways to ensure these AIs are safe, unbiased and accountable.
11 June 2024
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Thanks so much for this Kortney! |
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Marine Conservation | 4 years 11 months ago | |
Is this offer still open |
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Camera Traps, Marine Conservation | 5 years 2 months ago | |
Thanks Kate - that's really helpful. The company in question are investors in an emerging high-end aquaculture venture and I assume their interest is around utilising... |
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Marine Conservation | 5 years 4 months ago | |
Hi everyone! I'm working on a project to detect and then predict where to find Derelict Fishing Gear in Coastal Waters along a 160km... |
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Marine Conservation | 6 years 2 months ago | |
Hi Don, I agree, it's very intriguing. I think they're using the Remora. It looks like a solar powered GPS tracker. I couldn't find much more... |
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Marine Conservation, Latin America Community | 6 years 6 months ago | |
ATLAN Space recently announced a pilot launch that will use autonomous drones and computer vision to report illegal fishing in the Seychelles islands. This article gives... |
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Marine Conservation | 6 years 11 months ago | |
Recently the National Whistleblower Center has worked on analyzing the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships ("APPS"), which... |
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Marine Conservation | 7 years 1 month ago | |
I wanted to post a resource for all who may be interested. The National Whistleblower Center is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that... |
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Marine Conservation | 7 years 1 month ago | |
The Okinawa Prefectural Government recently released this summary report on the symposium on Henoko-Oura Bay, in Okinawa Japan, organized... |
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Marine Conservation | 7 years 1 month ago | |
The top 20 submissions are open for public voting through Oct. 19, so you can go test out what people built. |
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Marine Conservation | 7 years 10 months ago | |
Speaking of data interpretation, creating an IUU risk score was the challenge for this team from the Data Science for Social Good summer fellows program. I saw a presentation on... |
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Marine Conservation | 7 years 11 months ago | |
The SMART Partnership will be attending the International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC4) hosted in La Serena, Chile, from the... |
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Marine Conservation | 8 years ago |