Unveiling Ocean Crowding: Satellite-AI Maps Reveal Hidden Maritime Activities

• Cutting-edge AI and satellite imagery create the first global map of vessel traffic, revealing hidden industrial activities.
• Unveiled by Global Fishing Watch, it exposes critical blind spots in conservation efforts.

Cutting-edge deep learning and satellite imagery combine to produce the world’s first comprehensive global map of vessel traffic and offshore infrastructure. The research, outlined in Nature, exposes previously unnoticed industrial activities, addressing critical blind spots in global conservation efforts. The study, led by the Google-backed nonprofit Global Fishing Watch, provides valuable insights into human activities at sea, prompting a need for more accurate mapping to safeguard the world’s oceans.

Mapping the Unseen

Traditionally relying on the maritime Automatic Identification System (AIS), organizations like Global Fishing Watch faced limitations due to AIS variations and potential signal manipulation. The new study leverages 2,000 terabytes of imagery from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1 satellite constellation, utilizing advanced radar instruments to unveil offshore activities that AIS overlooked.

AI’s Crucial Role

With an immense volume of data to analyze, researchers deploy three deep-learning models to classify vessels, estimate sizes, and identify offshore structures. Covering 15% of the world’s oceans, the study focuses on areas representing 75% of industrial activity, capturing vessel movements and stationary offshore developments between 2017 and 2021.

Global Fishing Watch’s Revelation

The study, spearheaded by Global Fishing Watch, unveils that 75% of the world’s industrial fishing vessels operate without public tracking. This hidden activity extends to 30% of transport and energy vessels, posing challenges to global conservation initiatives. Policymakers aiming to protect 30% of Earth’s land and waters by 2030 face critical decisions on where to focus conservation efforts.

Crucial Conservation Decisions

To fulfil global conservation goals, policymakers must prioritize accurate mapping and understanding which areas face exploitation. The study emphasizes the need for a nuanced perspective on maritime activities, considering fishing, oil platforms, and wind turbines, among other developments. This mapping precision ensures informed decisions on the 30% conservation target.

AI’s Impact on Maritime Understanding

The study’s lead author, Fernando Paolo, acknowledges that without artificial intelligence, such comprehensive mapping would not be feasible. Deep learning’s ability to discern patterns in vast datasets proves pivotal in uncovering hidden maritime activities. Open-source machine learning tools democratize access to tracking technologies, benefitting low-income countries in leveraging cost-effective monitoring.

Offshore Energy Trends

Satellite-AI mapping reveals significant trends in offshore energy development. Wind turbines surpass oil structures by the end of 2020, comprising 48% of ocean infrastructure by the following year. This boom in clean energy focuses on northern Europe and China, challenging misinformation linking offshore wind to whale deaths in the Northeast US.

Challenges in Offshore Oil Development

While offshore oil structures outpace wind turbines in vessel traffic, oil development has seen a 16% growth over five years. The study emphasizes the need to manage the growing global commons at sea, highlighting the historic challenges of unregulated maritime activities.

The study’s groundbreaking use of satellite imagery and AI provides a transformative understanding of global maritime activities. As the world addresses climate change and biodiversity protection, these technological advancements offer crucial insights into the crowded and dynamic global seascape, guiding effective conservation efforts.

Did you subscribe to our daily Newsletter?

It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe

Source: The Verge

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•