Marine

Uncovering secrets of marine life using automated image identification

December 2, 2020 by Marine Directorate Communications No Comments | Category Collaborations, Compliance, Marine Directorate general, Marine Directorate Science, Marine Planning, Marine Renewables, ScotMER

Pennatula phosphorea, phosphorescent sea pens. Crown copyright

It’s not easy to learn about what is going on under the surface of the ocean, but a new study is exploring how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help Marine Scotland uncover the secrets under our seas.

Published as part of the Scottish Marine Research Energy (ScotMER) Programme the new report considers how Marine Scotland could harness AI technology to get better datasets and information that complement the wider research around offshore renewable energy and support decision-making.

The use of underwater video as a method of monitoring salmon in rivers and at sea is becoming widely used as a non-invasive method of data collection.

Salmon in trap inside a trawl. Crown copyright

Video is already used for numerous other purposes in relation to offshore renewables, such as characterising the habitats and species on the seabed before a development takes place, and monitoring the collision risk with a tidal device.

This report assesses the current state of the technology, the most appropriate software platforms to develop automated image analysis and demonstrates that application of such technology is possible with underwater video used at Marine Scotland Science (MSS).

Further development of this technology in the future will mean a large element of detection and identification will be automated and there will be fast and accurate methods of identifying features of conservation interest.

If you would like to know more please come to the Automated Imaging workshop at the ScotMER symposium at 2pm today (Wednesday 2 December).

Further Information

Automated Identification of Fish and Other Aquatic Life in Underwater Video

Main picture details: Nephrops norwegicus, Nephrops. Crown copyright

Tags: Automated Imaging workshop, marine science, offshore renewable energy, offshore renewables, ScotMER, ScotMER symposium, Scottish Marine Research Energy

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