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
- @LauraRodriguez
- | Laura
I am a Marine biologist, Conservationist, and National Geographic Explorer. I am interested in developing technologies for marine research, exploration, and solutions to environmental problems. I have worked in bioprospecting and looking for by-products from macroalgae.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
- @guitarfishmasum
- | He/His
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
Wildlife Biologist and Marine Conservationist
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 19 Groups
- @marusuffern
- | She/her
Passionate and curious about nature and its diversity, I seek to learn more about conservation, new technologies, and the unknown and infinite environmental world.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 18 Groups
- @RBauermeister
- | He/Him
Android/Full Stack Engineer working with a major company but wanting more for the world he lives in. I'm a long time hiker, camper, wildlife volunteer and animal foster parent who just wants to stop feeling like I'm on the sidelines while the things I love disappear.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 7 Groups
- @sfregosi
- | she/her
bioacoustician
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
- @lucchini.karen
- | She/Her
PhD Student at the Post Graduate Programme in Animal Biology at Federal University of Pernambuco. Biologist at the National Centre of Research and Conservation of Aquatic Mammals (ICMBio/CMA).
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
Developer of the Android app DC Dolphin Communicator, and others
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 10 Groups
- @crillahan
- | He/Him
I am a research associate at the University of Massachusetts School for Marine Science and Technology. My research focuses on developing technology to study fish behavior. I work closely with state/federal management agencies, commercial fishing and offshore wind industries.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 7 Groups
I am a Conservation Biologist managing a portfolio of species conservation projects. My current focus is raptors but I also have experience working with large marine mammals and sea birds. My research interests are on evaluating the effectiveness of conservation interventions.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 6 Groups
World Wide Fund for Nature/ World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 9 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
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
Link
This article covers how Sofar's Spotter monitoring buoys can collect data for longer periods of time by improving battery life. According to this article, "GPS Sleep turns off Spotter’s GPS sensor during sampling dwell...
13 June 2023
Link
As we celebrate World Oceans Day this month, we are reminded that addressing climate change will take more than any one organization. It will require companies, governments, NGOs and communities, all working together,...
9 June 2023
Link
Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) explains how the innovative approaches towards curbing plastic pollution witnessed across African nations can help in pivoting to a plastics-...
5 June 2023
Link
It's World Environment Day! This year the focus is on solutions to plastic pollution under the campaign #BeatPlasticPollution. How are you getting involved to solve plastic pollution using conservation technology?
5 June 2023
Careers
Cefas is seeking a Director to lead the development and application of innovative, data-driven approaches for marine and freshwater monitoring efforts.
2 June 2023
Article
Ashored Innovations: Hardware and Software for Sustainable Fishing
Ashored Innovations
In this Conservation Tech Showcase case study from Ashored Innovations, we’ll learn how conservation technology is transforming fishing techniques to safeguard marine wildlife.
1 June 2023
Article
Data Visualization in Service of Coral Reefs in Micronesia
Andrzej Białaś
This Data4Good project has led to immediate conservation impacts for many islands and many different resources. We hope that this project will inspire others to use data science and technology to solve the conservation...
17 May 2023
Article
Happywhale: AI-Powered Whale Identification
Ellie Warren
In this Conservation Tech Showcase case study from Happywhale, you’ll learn about how AI tools are helping researchers and citizen scientists identify and protect humpback whales.
16 May 2023
Funding
Deadline Approaching: Conservation Tech Award
Jordan Steward
Are you using or creating tech to protect wildlife? We want to support your organization through two $15,000 grants!
15 May 2023
Article
Photo Quadrats, AI, and MERMAID: A Case Study from Mozambique
Esther Githinji
How can you use tools like photo quadrats, AI, and MERMAID together? We share an example overview of how WCS Staff in Mozambique use image classification tools with MERMAID to integrate photo quadrat and other coral...
12 May 2023
Article
Introducing the 2023 Conservation Tech Showcase
Ellie Warren
Welcome to our new Conservation Tech Showcase, a series highlighting innovative and impactful projects from outstanding organizations around the world.
11 May 2023
June 2025
October 2025
event
Lacey Hughey and 3 more
July 2023
June 2023
event
Stephanie O'Donnell
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hey all!I'm looking for image datasets of Indo-Pacific fish species (Red Sea, if I'm being specific) for detection/classification.... |
|
Marine Conservation | 2 years 6 months ago | |
| @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 | 2 years 9 months 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. |
|
Marine Conservation | 2 years 10 months 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... |
|
Marine Conservation, Open Source Solutions | 2 years 11 months 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 7 months ago | |
| Would certainly be cool to see a tutorial on this! Looking forward to that! |
|
Marine Conservation, Sensors | 3 years 8 months ago | |
| Materials Engineer at Running Tide - https://jobs.lever.co/runningtide/f1f38773-1369-4a5c-a6ae-ce952a10ad3c Electrical Engineer at... |
|
Marine Conservation | 3 years 9 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 | 3 years 11 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 4 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 5 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 6 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... |
|
Marine Conservation | 4 years 6 months ago |
