PML has developed AI algorithms to detect floating plastic litter on the sea surface from drone footage.

 

By Professor Icarus Allen
Chief Executive
Plymouth Marine Laboratory and PML Applications

This past year has been another exciting and productive one for Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), with significant advancements using, and optimizing, the latest technological developments as part of our quest to better understand the ocean and all it provides to society.

Climate change is clearly one of the biggest challenges currently facing the world. The reduction of carbon emissions remains paramount, and there has been a recent flurry of interest around the development of approaches to remove atmospheric carbon dioxide via the marine environment and its chemical and biological processes.

To ensure these initiatives truly achieve what is intended without causing negative impacts on the environment, society or the economy, it is crucial that any proposed projects, such as those relating to ocean carbon dioxide removal (oCDR), are properly and robustly monitored and evaluated. Scientists at PML have been working on a number of projects to do just that.

The SeaCURE project, a collaboration between PML, University of Exeter, Brunel University and the SEA LIFE Centre in Weymouth, U.K., is building a pilot plant that could pave the way for large-scale, ocean-based removal of CO2. The SeaCURE system, which is due to be operational in early 2025, removes CO2 from piped-in seawater, then releases that seawater back to the ocean, where it naturally replenishes the lost CO2 by effectively “sucking” carbon from the atmosphere.

In another first-of-its-kind study, scientists from PML and PML Applications provided independent monitoring and analysis of a pilot oCDR trial by Planetary Technologies in St Ives Bay, U.K. This study involved adding magnesium hydroxide to wastewater before releasing the wastewater into the sea, where natural chemical processes reduced the concentration of CO2 in the released water, thereby increasing the water’s capacity to absorb CO2 from the air. The monitoring, reporting, and verification performed by PML for the study provides strong evidence that oCDR is a viable approach to actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere and help combat climate change.

Another aspect that is important in tackling climate change is offshore renewable energy. In 2024, PML scientists led or were involved with numerous research projects exploring the impact of wind farm developments on marine life and ecosystems. One such study showed that during construction, impacts were predominantly negative, whereas, once operational, the impacts were more balanced, depending on the site conditions. The conditions of the site also played a significant role in what would be the least detrimental approach for decommissioning.

Broadening the scope to wider environmental issues, PML scientists have been fully embracing the recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) to facilitate environmental research and application. AI algorithms have been trained to detect the invasive Pacific oyster along U.K. shorelines and floating plastic litter on the sea surface from drone footage, potentially providing a new, fast, cost-effective and simple monitoring capability.

AI is also being used in the identification of plankton through a cutting-edge, in-water imaging system that, when combined with machine learning, can be used to rapidly identify and classify plankton species present in the water without the need for manual analysis. The high-frequency data produced help scientists to understand the changes that are occurring in our marine environment on a much finer scale.

This identification approach is also being used to detect harmful algal blooms (HABs), which can have a significant negative impact upon environmental and human health, as well as the economy through reduced productivity and income in the marine sector. PML has studied algal blooms for decades by looking for color signatures in satellite images. Now with AI, the team can build more complex models incorporating other data, such as temperature, chlorophyll levels, and turbidity, to help detect different species and predict when and where a HAB may occur. Improving HAB predictive capability could provide seafood farmers early warning of encroaching blooms, potentially giving them time to respond to save stock.

Another issue where progress has been made this year is that of balancing the needs of multiple marine users. The marine environment provides an extensive range of benefits to society, including food, transport, energy, waste processing, recreation and beneficial environmental processes that require protection. Managing the often conflicting demands of users of the marine environment in a changing climate requires a new approach, and PML scientists have proposed a novel framework for Climate-Smart Marine Spatial Planning (CSMSP).

The PML-led Marine Spatial Planning Addressing Climate Effects (MSPACE) project, in collaboration with the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership, published an “early warning system” report, based on CSMSP and incorporating an advanced modeling analysis. This analysis shows where and for how long marine conservation, fisheries and aquaculture could be best supported across U.K. seas. Creating new, climate-adaptive management strategies for marine ecosystems and the various economic sectors reliant on them is vital in order to harness opportunities for effective marine conservation and economic growth in the long term. MSPACE has been successful in securing additional funding to work more closely with potential end-users within the marine spatial planning sector and the U.K.’s overseas territories.

Diving deeper, PML and Seabed 2030, which seeks to inspire the complete mapping of the global ocean by 2030, signed a memorandum of understanding, recognizing shared endeavors, particularly in ocean bathymetry research, and supporting the UN Ocean Decade. The agreement will see closer collaboration in areas such as joint engagement with the wider geospatial, hydrospatial, and technology innovation community and the sharing of data.

In Plymouth, identified as Britain’s Ocean City, further exciting developments in the marine R&D sector have been achieved. As part of the National Centre for Coastal Autonomy, a unique proving ground for marine businesses to test, trial, prototype, and commercialize new products and services has been enhanced with a new underwater communications network. The Smart Sound Connect Subsurface network, in which PML is a key partner, will integrate into the existing surface networks to deliver a fully connected environment. It combines underwater, surface and aerial platforms to create unrivaled opportunities for research that will advance our understanding of the ocean.

Looking forward to 2025, PML will continue its developmental autonomy and AI work, aiming to deploy the full suite of automatic imaging devices alongside new cutting-edge marine monitoring equipment at sea by the spring. This will likely be the most comprehensive and advanced marine monitoring network in the world, helping to maintain PML and Plymouth’s global reputation as a leading force in marine science.

Learn more here.