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