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.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
- 2 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
Applied ML for Sustainable Fisheries, Co-Founder of OnDeck Fisheries AI
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 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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- 0 Discussions
- 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
- 0 Discussions
- 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
Link
When considering MPA groundfish monitoring methods: the more, the merrier! New paper out in Journal of Applied Ecology compared three MPA monitoring techniques commonly utilised to survey groundfish populations. They...
20 October 2023
Link
Marine Flyways - Seabird Tracking Database
Stephanie O'Donnell
To celebrate #WMBD, BirdLife is excited to share the newly identified Marine Flyways!! Seabird tracking data were shared by over 60 researchers from 48 long-distance migratory species and have revealed SIX MarineFlyways...
20 October 2023
Article
We're delighted to announce that Connected Conservation Foundation and Airbus Foundation have today launched round 2 of the ‘Satellites for Biodiversity Award’.
2 October 2023
Article
The partnership will support the Global South with the development, planning and management of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the high seas.
22 September 2023
Careers
Senior Spatial Ecologist
The Charles Darwin Foundation
The Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands (CDF) is recruiting a Senior Spatial Ecologist to join our shark research team and strengthen the ongoing long-term research on shark population ecology and...
24 August 2023
Careers
Reviewing Now: Animal Telemetry Postdoctoral Fellowship
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution seeks a field- and data-oriented biologist to support marine animal telemetry research and to assist with activities of the Atlantic Cooperative Telemetry (ACT) Network.
24 August 2023
Article
#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge: Judges' Panel Honorees
WILDLABS Team
Please join us in celebrating this year’s top #Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge Honorees as chosen by our panel of leading conservation organization judges, and enjoy the story contained within these entries about how our...
4 August 2023
Link
Mapping seagrass with drones and AI
Ellie Warren
GeoNadir shared how drones and AI can help assess seagrass habitats at the Great Barrier Reef, as well as how satellite imagery can monitor seagrass on a wider scale.
4 August 2023
Article
Join us as we count down the WILDLABS community's honorees in the first-ever #Tech4Wildlife Community Choice Awards!
3 August 2023
Article
In 2019, the U.S. Navy initiated a time-lapse camera study to investigate seal presence at select haul-out locations in the lower Chesapeake Bay and coastal waters of Virginia, which are important areas to Navy training...
13 July 2023
Article
In this article from Alasdair Davies, he discusses how marine tracking's unique challenges could impact its potential for sustainability in the future.
12 July 2023
Careers
Fisheries Analyst (Pacific)
Global Fishing Watch
With a focus on using and combining vessel tracking data, other satellite derived datasets and big data methods and AI generated estimates related to vessel identity and activity, the Fisheries Analyist with Global...
15 June 2023
October 2025
event
Lacey Hughey and 3 more
March 2026
October 2023
event
Stephanie O'Donnell
event
briannaljohns
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| @Andrew_Hill I wonder if you could let us know more about the time keeping difference btw the regular AudioMoth and the HydroMoth (which is said to do better)? |
|
Acoustics, Marine Conservation | 3 years ago | |
| Hello,The hydrophone_survey_results.pdf file is not opening. Is the link still working? I would be keen to see it. Thank you. |
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Marine Conservation | 3 years 1 month ago | |
| If you're looking to identify collaborators - probably lots of organizations listed in the Conservation Tech Directory would be interested (quick prelim search yields orgs like... |
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Marine Conservation, Open Source Solutions | 3 years 1 month ago | |
| Hi Wildlabbers, This week's Tech Tutor Jamie MacAulay is talking about how to use and analyze large acoustic data using... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Marine Conservation | 3 years 10 months ago | |
| Would certainly be cool to see a tutorial on this! Looking forward to that! |
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Marine Conservation, Sensors | 3 years 11 months ago | |
| Materials Engineer at Running Tide - https://jobs.lever.co/runningtide/f1f38773-1369-4a5c-a6ae-ce952a10ad3c Electrical Engineer at... |
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Marine Conservation | 3 years 11 months ago | |
| Hi Mauman. Did you have a specific application in mind? There are quite a few IoT systems but they all need to be pieced together. If there's a specific application... |
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Marine Conservation | 4 years 2 months ago | |
| "On a side note, I've discovered it's really hard to say "I'm interested in small buoys" without creating awkward silence in a room. "... |
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Marine Conservation | 4 years 7 months ago | |
| Hi Wildlabbers, Welcome back to Tech Tutors for season 2! This season's first episode featured Oceanmind's... |
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Marine Conservation, Geospatial, Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 4 years 8 months ago | |
| Hi @teds@vulcan.com and all, Please check out https://iot.wildbook.org Cloud-based data management and computer vision for photo ID using the WIldbook platform. We... |
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Marine Conservation | 4 years 8 months ago | |
| Hi Akiba, I made a mistake, I did manage to find some +/-0.05 degC thermistors for USD4 on Digikey, so the USD9 figure can be feasible in low quantitites. I actually... |
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Marine Conservation | 4 years 9 months ago | |
| Are you working on a solution that protects, restores and supports the ocean and its blue economy? Do you need networks, expertise, talent... |
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Marine Conservation | 4 years 10 months ago |
