AI can help ecologists identify acoustic evidence of harmful fishing practices at a faster rate: A researcher at the University College London, Ben Williams, is using underwater recordings captured in the Indo-Pacific to train an AI tool to identify human threats to marine ecosystems within seconds, Bloomberg reports. Williams is listening for acoustic evidence of blast fishing — a harmful practice that uses explosives to kill fish — to feed information to SurfPerch, an AI that helps monitor coral reef health, the news outlet explained. He is working on the project in collaboration with Google’s UK-based AI research laboratory Google Deepmind.

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How does this help conservation efforts? Ecologists have traditionally relied on audio data to detect threats like poaching, measure animal populations, and assess ecosystem health, the report adds. While humans might spend weeks analyzing 40 hours of recordings, SurfPerch can complete the same task in seconds once fully trained.

But there are challenges ahead: Underwater acoustics present additional challenges as many marine species produce low-pitched sounds that are difficult to detect, and human activities like offshore drilling can interfere with acoustic monitoring.

Enter SurfPerch: SurfPerch addresses these challenges by focusing on the overall soundscape of coral reefs rather than individual species. This approach helps distinguish between healthy and degraded reefs, providing insights that can guide conservation efforts and commercial fishing regulations. The tech currently recognizes 38 distinct marine sounds by learning from a global dataset, including audio contributed by scientists and volunteers through Google’s Calling in Our Corals initiative.

AI is already being used to conserve our oceans: Algerian researcher Dyhia Belhabib developed an AI-powered risk assessment tool called GRACE that can provide real-time information on the likelihood of a particular ship committing environmental crimes. German startup CleanHub also developed an AI-powered platform that helps local waste-management services collect and properly dispose of nonrecyclable plastic.

And land: London-based startup Chirrup AI is leveraging AI to monitor bird populations across around 80 farms in the UK and Ireland, providing valuable data that can influence environmental policies and subsidies.

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