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.
I am a recently graduated Computer Scientist and Mathematician passionate about animals and nature.
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- @kourtney.burger
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- @KeesteVelde
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Underwater Bioacoustician interested in developing PAM for freshwater systems
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- @MStarking
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Ecologist and conservation researcher, currently an Assistant Professor at University of Michigan-Flint, research areas include landscape ecology, forestry and wildlife interactions, wildlife habitat relationships, spatial ecology, GIS.
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Technologist and Visual storyteller focusing on social, conservations issues.
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PhD fellow using deep learning to investigate marine fish acoustic signals and social behaviour.
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Careers
Data Scientist (Geospatial), Global Fishing Watch
Global Fishing Watch
Global Fishing Watch are looking for a data scientist to join the Research and Innovation team. Help us tackle geospatial data fusion problems to produce the most complete picture of human activity at sea.
19 April 2023
Article
HydroMoth GroupGets Campaign is Open
Ellie Warren
If you've been waiting to try a HydroMoth, join the GroupGets campaign before limited supplies run out
17 April 2023
Careers
Office & Warehouse Exec
SafetyNet Technologies
We create Precision Fishing technology to help commercial fishermen catch their target species more consistently & sustainably.
5 April 2023
Link
The rush to increase deep sea mining
Ellie Warren
This new article about the future of deep-sea mining caught my eye, because it's a topic we'd hope to cover in our upcoming sustainability series. It's a subject we'd still like to highlight on WILDLABS as most tech...
16 March 2023
Careers
Skylight | LATAM & Caribbean Partner Relationship Manager
Jordan Steward
Skylight is looking for someone who loves our ocean, has a deep interest in apply cutting-edge tech to protect it, is proficient in English and Spanish, and has a background in partnership building and training.
10 March 2023
Article
Zooplankton Prosome and Lipid Sac Segmentation
Andrzej Białaś
A machine learning-based solution that can segment the Prosomes and Lipid sacs with sufficient accuracy helps to recognize the ecological plasticity of key Arctic copepods. It allows scientists to learn more about the...
15 February 2023
Careers
Research Associate - Machine Learning (Underwater Sound)
Stephanie O'Donnell
You will develop and apply novel approaches and machine learning techniques for the detection, classification and identification of marine fauna from passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) validated with paired visual...
10 February 2023
Careers
Engineering Manager, Skylight
Allen Institute for AI
On the AST Skylight team, you will work with talented engineers, domain experts, and product managers to uncover illegal fishing by developing the tools that help countries around the globe combat this problem.
10 February 2023
Careers
Technical Officer – IMOS Animal Tracking Facility
Stephanie O'Donnell
IMOS Animal Tracking Facility is hiring a Technical Officer to assist with the preparation, deployment and maintenance of acoustic receivers to monitor movements of tagged animals & continue to develop operational...
7 February 2023
Here's a fascinating new case study on Ocean Tracking Network's work with underwater gliders to track tagged marine species like crabs. If you're interested in biologging, marine tech, or fisheries' tech usage, take a...
13 January 2023
Link
An online portal to help governments, researchers, conservation advocates & others monitor activity throughout the world’s marine environment, as well as design & implement protected areas. The Marine Manager is...
13 January 2023
Careers
Job: Software Engineer at Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory
Aaron Roan BOSL
Seeking Software Engineer for Marine Science Lab a UC Santa Barbara
19 December 2022
October 2025
event
Lacey Hughey and 3 more
March 2026
September 2024
event
Vanesa Reyes
event
Vanesa Reyes
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| We’re excited to announce that Deep Voice has received a 2025 Wildlabs Award to develop a public, web-based platform for marine mammal... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Marine Conservation | 2 months 2 weeks ago | |
| True, the US ecosystem is a challenging space right now, for basically all sectors. We should not let the US chaos prevent us from engaging with opportunities in other... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Connectivity, Drones, Emerging Tech, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Marine Conservation, Sensors | 4 months ago | |
| Fascinating article, combining machine learning and acoustical signals to correlate coral reef health.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Marine Conservation | 3 years 2 months ago | |
| Good morning JocelynThank you very much for your comment, this is proving to be very useful advice and thank you so much for setting me on the right path!! This is very exciting!!... |
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Animal Movement, Citizen Science, Human-Wildlife Coexistence, Marine Conservation, Drones, Community Base, Geospatial | 4 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Thanks so much for all the advice!! This seems very achievable. We don't mind having the fibre optic fixed in place as we planned to have a shorter one specifically for this... |
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Sensors, Marine Conservation | 5 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Hey Scott, I'll answer that since Evelina left us.Since 2021, we've been on a few expeditions collecting our own data, collaborated with organisations worldwide, and won... |
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Marine Conservation | 6 months ago | |
| Hello everyone. My name is Bilal. I recently graduated with a degree in bioengineering and hold a bachelor's degree in computer science,... |
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AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Human-Wildlife Coexistence, Marine Conservation | 6 months 4 weeks ago | |
| Hi Simon,We (Reneco International Wildlife Consultants) have an ongoing collaboration with a local University (Abu Dhabi, UAE) for developing AI tools (cameratrap/drone... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Camera Traps, Citizen Science, Connectivity, Drones, Early Career, eDNA & Genomics, Marine Conservation, Protected Area Management Tools, Sensors | 7 months ago | |
| Hi Matthew Wow, what an amazing project! It is incredible how you have managed to figure out some of the complexities of combining underwater imagery with UAV imagery. I am... |
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Drones, Geospatial, Marine Conservation, Protected Area Management Tools | 7 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Hello everyone,I built Brave Puffin (https://bravepuffin.com) - a small, autonomous, long range, solar powered boat. It is designed to... |
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Build Your Own Data Logger Community, Marine Conservation, Sensors | 7 months 4 weeks ago | |
| Steve and I are looking to develop a low-cost benthic drift camera with a live video feed. Our hope is to use an acoustic modem to give us a low quality feed for navigation /... |
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Marine Conservation, Build Your Own Data Logger Community, Connectivity, Emerging Tech, Open Source Solutions | 7 months 4 weeks ago | |
| Hi Muhammad,The best reference I know of covering shallow soft corals around Indonesia is Fabricius & Alderslade, its not a complete guide to everything you might see there,... |
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Marine Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education | 8 months 2 weeks ago |
pneumatic artificial muscle applications in conservation tech?
5 July 2023 6:59pm
Making Waves: Open Hardware as a Solution to Scaling up Bycatch Mitigation
2 July 2023 11:24am
The Wildlife Society Conference
19 June 2023 5:59am
Catch up with The Variety Hour: June 2023
16 June 2023 11:43am
FathomNet Workshop @CVPR 2023
15 June 2023 12:27pm
Fisheries Analyst (Pacific)
15 June 2023 12:15pm
Job Opening: Full Stack Developer at Marine Monitor (M2)
13 June 2023 6:47pm
Sofar increases battery life of montioring buoys with sleep setting
13 June 2023 12:08am
Celebrating World Oceans Day: Revitalizing the marine ecosystem with technology-driven engineered reefs to accelerate CO2 capture
9 June 2023 10:14am
Think | IBM
Experience an integrated media property for tech workers—latest news, explainers and market insights to help stay ahead of the curve.
UNEP Executive Director - Inger Andersen's take on why African nations have the power & tools to re-design a plastic pollution-free future
5 June 2023 1:28pm
Register your #WorldEnvironmentDay Event or Activity and Share it with the World
5 June 2023 1:07pm
Get Involved - World Environment Day events and activities
* UNEP is not is a position to verify the accuracy of information provided about events and activities for World Environment Day *
Opportunity: Director of Digital, Data and Technology
2 June 2023 12:40am
Ashored Innovations: Hardware and Software for Sustainable Fishing
1 June 2023 9:46pm
Data Visualization in Service of Coral Reefs in Micronesia
17 May 2023 8:53pm
Happywhale: AI-Powered Whale Identification
16 May 2023 10:00am
Deadline Approaching: Conservation Tech Award
15 May 2023 10:21pm
Photo Quadrats, AI, and MERMAID: A Case Study from Mozambique
12 May 2023 3:44pm
Introducing the 2023 Conservation Tech Showcase
11 May 2023 5:06pm
Looking for an off-the-shelf saltwater switch
6 May 2023 6:05am
New Paper: Identification of fish sounds
5 May 2023 12:40am
[Recordings Now Available!) EarthRanger User Conference
27 April 2023 5:52am
Data Scientist (Geospatial), Global Fishing Watch
19 April 2023 10:34am
HydroMoth GroupGets Campaign is Open
17 April 2023 8:44pm
Field testing of a radio telemetry system to be deployed in the sea.
24 January 2023 6:52am
21 March 2023 8:52am
Oh, great link! Been doing marine projects recently and a big headache is protecting submerged electronics. I've kind of heard of many of those techniques, but great to see them collected all in one place and with first hand experienced commentary regarding them.
12 April 2023 2:32pm
Not sure exactly how your telemetry will be deployed, but if it's going to be attached to an animal in a relatively non-invasive way, you might check with zoos or aquariums that have similar species.
I worked in that industry for a long time and we tested telemetry for seals, sea lions, polar bears and elephants. There might have been more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. This can help improve attachment methods and test how tough the animals will be on the equipment.
Office & Warehouse Exec
5 April 2023 6:22pm
Computer Vision Competitions on Natural-World datasets
5 April 2023 4:26pm
Tools & Experiences with Sea Turtle Monitoring
17 March 2023 1:00pm
17 March 2023 4:23pm
Great webinar! I am working with the Dominica Sea Turtle Conservation Organization and would love to get in touch about the apps Mtalii and his team use for collecting their data. We're looking to streamline our process and make it easier for our volunteers to help capture vital nesting and sighting data on Dominica. Hoping to connect with Mtalii so we can implement some of the awesome apps they've been using for their turtle research. Feel free to message me! Thanks!
21 March 2023 1:00pm
Hey Amelia, thanks for reaching out and sorry for my late feedback. I am sharing my address: mtalii@baharihai.org for more conversation about this. we can schedule an online call and also introduce the teams when ready. Thanks
30 March 2023 6:00pm
In 2020, I made a survey of sea turtle research databases and an outline for a design of the most commonly required features. At that time, building such a database seemed too risky for me, but if you are interested, please do drop me a line.
After I published the list, I also found out about Torsooi
The rush to increase deep sea mining
16 March 2023 9:19pm
Opinion | A Rush to Mine the Deep Sea Is Underway. It Must Be Stopped. - The New York Times
A scramble to mine the deep sea could soon commence. And once it begins, there will be little hope of reining it in.
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15 Mar 2023
Skylight | LATAM & Caribbean Partner Relationship Manager
10 March 2023 5:21pm
Underwater Fish Datasets from the Mediterranean
15 August 2022 11:45pm
26 September 2022 9:32pm
Not sure if audio data would be of any use to you, but if so FishSounds has some - I just tried their search function and there is a location tag for 'Mediterranean & Black Sea'.
You might try reaching out to the folks at Name that Fish, Innovasea, or perhaps an entity on the Fisheries Tech list would have Mediterranean stuff?
21 October 2022 7:52am
Hi,
If this is still relevant, you can try reaching out to the Belmaker lab, they do BRUV surveys in the eastern Mediterranean and have hours of video, some of it I believe is annotated. Particularly, Shahar might be helpful, he's the PhD student running point on the project.
2 March 2023 2:03pm
We have made available our underwater videos on YouTube as a playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnhVZKKy8WkZKriCIV6r7upWhHNVrU_7L
It's about 1.113 short video clips with annotation and each is linked to the corresponding www.iNaturalist.org observations. The iNaturalist.org observations are research quality and have been uploaded to GBIF.org. The observations have been made between 2014 and 2022 around the Ionian Islands (Greece).
If you would need the original videos please contact me.
21 March 2023 2:47am
Here's a link about waterproofing in the marine environment, if you haven't already discovered Ed Mallon.