{"id":190,"date":"2025-02-12T14:50:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T14:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seaql.org\/?page_id=190"},"modified":"2025-02-16T02:52:58","modified_gmt":"2025-02-16T02:52:58","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/seaql.org\/?page_id=190","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"190\" class=\"elementor elementor-190\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-39cee32 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"39cee32\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a882eb3 elementor-widget-divider--view-line_text elementor-widget-divider--separator-type-pattern elementor-widget-divider--no-spacing elementor-widget-divider--element-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"a882eb3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\" style=\"--divider-pattern-url: url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039; preserveAspectRatio=&#039;none&#039; overflow=&#039;visible&#039; height=&#039;100%&#039; viewBox=&#039;0 0 24 24&#039; fill=&#039;black&#039; stroke=&#039;none&#039;%3E%3Cpath d=&#039;M24,8v12H0V8H24z M24,4v1H0V4H24z&#039;\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;);\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider__text elementor-divider__element\">\n\t\t\t\tBig Data\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f8d3a5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2f8d3a5\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1b0ee15 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"1b0ee15\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cb60a07 elementor-position-top elementor-widget elementor-widget-image-box\" data-id=\"cb60a07\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image-box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image-box-wrapper\"><figure class=\"elementor-image-box-img\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"690\" height=\"209\" src=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sp_png.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-193\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sp_png.png 690w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sp_png-300x91.png 300w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sp_png-624x189.png 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"elementor-image-box-content\"><h3 class=\"elementor-image-box-title\">sharkPulse<\/h3><p class=\"elementor-image-box-description\"> sharkPulse is a crowdsourcing initiative to collect image-based sightings of sharks from all over the world.\n\n  <style>\n  p { text-align: justify; }\n  <\/style><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b4530f0 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"b4530f0\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a15319 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5a15319\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>One of the biggest hurdles of shark conservation is the lack of data on abundance and distribution of many of their species. To address this challenge, we have developed <a href=\"http:\/\/sharkpulse.org\/\">sharkPulse<\/a>, a modular crowd-sourcing platform combining smartphone technology, web applications, social network\/website crawling, computer vision, and machine learning for generating a large image-based sighting database for sharks. The goal is warehousing shark images available on the web and personal archives, and transform them into occurrence records. This platform aims to show how citizen science can be harnessed to produce big data, inform ecological science and promote conservation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-290e8c4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"290e8c4\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9cd21b7 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"9cd21b7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fd03b62 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"fd03b62\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c429a35 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"c429a35\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-147f9c5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"147f9c5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Illegal unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) and resource overexploitation are among the biggest threats the ocean is facing today. Tackling these issues has been historically challenging because of inaccurate and incomplete fisheries statistics. In collaboration with the <a href=\"http:\/\/globalfishingwatch.org\/\">Global Fishing Watch<\/a>, Google and other academic partners, We are analyzing a new global database of satellite tracking data for marine vessels to understand global patterns of high-seas fishing and how they interact with large pelagic fish and sharks. Specifically, we are combining these data with statistics of regional fisheries management organizations, reconstructed historical catch and effort data, and animal telemetry data to study drivers and dynamics of high-seas exploitation, overlaps between fish and fisheries\u2019 domains, and cross-validate remotely sensed fishing fleet data with recorded fisheries statistics.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8a958ab e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"8a958ab\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f32a0ed elementor-position-top elementor-widget elementor-widget-image-box\" data-id=\"f32a0ed\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image-box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image-box-wrapper\"><figure class=\"elementor-image-box-img\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/GIF_Peru_800_2mb.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-205\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"elementor-image-box-content\"><h3 class=\"elementor-image-box-title\">Toward Ocean Transparency<\/h3><p class=\"elementor-image-box-description\">Understanding patterns of high-seas fishing effort across the globe and how global fishing fleets interact with large pelagic fish and sharks.\n\n  <style>\n  p { text-align: justify; }\n  <\/style><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4b7cb3f e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4b7cb3f\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b9c9f2a elementor-widget-divider--view-line_text elementor-widget-divider--separator-type-pattern elementor-widget-divider--no-spacing elementor-widget-divider--element-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"b9c9f2a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\" style=\"--divider-pattern-url: url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039; preserveAspectRatio=&#039;none&#039; overflow=&#039;visible&#039; height=&#039;100%&#039; viewBox=&#039;0 0 24 24&#039; fill=&#039;black&#039; stroke=&#039;none&#039;%3E%3Cpath d=&#039;M24,8v12H0V8H24z M24,4v1H0V4H24z&#039;\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;);\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider__text elementor-divider__element\">\n\t\t\t\tMultidisciplinary\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8753717 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8753717\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-79dd24e e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"79dd24e\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-59a34f4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"59a34f4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Centuries of coastal fishing, and more recently, industrial exploitation have severely impacted this population, which, in the last few decades, has declined to very low levels of abundance. They were historically abundant and widely distributed in the region, and now they are critically endangered. We don&#8217;t know how many sharks are left and still know very little about their ecology and biology to protect them. Because they are scarce and have no aggregation areas similar to other regions, studying them in the field has always been challenging. To address this challenge, we started a multi-institutional monitoring program on white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7fb9146 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7fb9146\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/?page_id=267\">View Project<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6bfea30 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"6bfea30\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-954e3ad elementor-position-top elementor-widget elementor-widget-image-box\" data-id=\"954e3ad\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image-box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image-box-wrapper\"><figure class=\"elementor-image-box-img\"><a href=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/?page_id=267\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"867\" src=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/image-1536x867-1.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-201\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/image-1536x867-1.png 1536w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/image-1536x867-1-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/image-1536x867-1-1024x578.png 1024w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/image-1536x867-1-768x434.png 768w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/image-1536x867-1-624x352.png 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><div class=\"elementor-image-box-content\"><h3 class=\"elementor-image-box-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/?page_id=267\">Tracking the last Mediterranean White Sharks<\/a><\/h3><p class=\"elementor-image-box-description\">Mediterranean white sharks are one of the most endangered and least known white shark populations globally that we would like to know better to promote effective conservation and recovery programs.\n\n  <style>\n  p { text-align: justify; }\n  <\/style><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e87278c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"e87278c\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4b69092 elementor-widget-divider--view-line_text elementor-widget-divider--separator-type-pattern elementor-widget-divider--no-spacing elementor-widget-divider--element-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"4b69092\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\" style=\"--divider-pattern-url: url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039; preserveAspectRatio=&#039;none&#039; overflow=&#039;visible&#039; height=&#039;100%&#039; viewBox=&#039;0 0 24 24&#039; fill=&#039;black&#039; stroke=&#039;none&#039;%3E%3Cpath d=&#039;M24,8v12H0V8H24z M24,4v1H0V4H24z&#039;\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;);\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider__text elementor-divider__element\">\n\t\t\t\tMolecular Ecology\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-243f5f7 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"243f5f7\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6a841f5 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"6a841f5\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fedbf56 elementor-position-top elementor-widget elementor-widget-image-box\" data-id=\"fedbf56\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image-box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image-box-wrapper\"><figure class=\"elementor-image-box-img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4881\" height=\"3074\" src=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PCR-1-1.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-234\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PCR-1-1.png 4881w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PCR-1-1-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PCR-1-1-1024x645.png 1024w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PCR-1-1-768x484.png 768w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PCR-1-1-1536x967.png 1536w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PCR-1-1-2048x1290.png 2048w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PCR-1-1-624x393.png 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 4881px) 100vw, 4881px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"elementor-image-box-content\"><h3 class=\"elementor-image-box-title\">Population Genetics and eDNA<\/h3><p class=\"elementor-image-box-description\">Reconstructing population landscapes of elusive species in the Mediterranean Sea with genomics and eDNA monitoring. \n\n  <style>\n  p { text-align: justify; }\n  <\/style><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-195a5f1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"195a5f1\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dc0ed07 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"dc0ed07\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Detecting environmental DNA (eDNA) that has been shed by white sharks can reveal their occurrence and movement patterns. Opportunistic sightings of elusive Mediterranean white sharks are rare, so the utility of detecting eDNA and refining the detection workflow is crucial for monitoring their population. Furthermore, oceanographic simulations can provide novel insight into the trajectory of eDNA particles in the open ocean, helping to determine both the source and destination of eDNA shed by white sharks.<\/p><p>By assembling the genome of Mediterranean white sharks, we can fill gaps in their evolutionary history, connectivity with the Atlantic, and physiological adaptations. These findings will allow us to identify distribution patterns and recent population bottlenecks, having implications for their conservation and recovery.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e366a98 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"e366a98\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-13fb253 elementor-widget-divider--view-line_text elementor-widget-divider--separator-type-pattern elementor-widget-divider--no-spacing elementor-widget-divider--element-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"13fb253\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\" style=\"--divider-pattern-url: url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039; preserveAspectRatio=&#039;none&#039; overflow=&#039;visible&#039; height=&#039;100%&#039; viewBox=&#039;0 0 24 24&#039; fill=&#039;black&#039; stroke=&#039;none&#039;%3E%3Cpath d=&#039;M24,8v12H0V8H24z M24,4v1H0V4H24z&#039;\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;);\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider__text elementor-divider__element\">\n\t\t\t\tLMPAs\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-294d802 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"294d802\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5043f94 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"5043f94\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f3367b1 elementor-position-top elementor-widget elementor-widget-image-box\" data-id=\"f3367b1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image-box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image-box-wrapper\"><figure class=\"elementor-image-box-img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"866\" height=\"256\" src=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/lmpa.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-207\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/lmpa.png 866w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/lmpa-300x89.png 300w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/lmpa-768x227.png 768w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/lmpa-624x184.png 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"elementor-image-box-content\"><h3 class=\"elementor-image-box-title\">Large Marine Protected Areas<\/h3><p class=\"elementor-image-box-description\">Investigating on the impact of large marine protected areas on the management and conservation of sharks and other broad-ranging marine megafauna\n\n  <style>\n  p { text-align: justify; }\n  <\/style><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1b2a797 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"1b2a797\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-eddff60 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"eddff60\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Very large marine protected areas (LMPA &gt; 75,000 km2) are increasingly popular to protect the last strongholds of biodiversity in the ocean and promote recovery of heavily exploited regions. Yet not all agree on their value for management and conservation. Challenges are demonstrating that positive outcomes observed in smaller coastal MPAs also occur at such large scales and that monitoring and enforcement over vast and remote oceanic regions are possible. Through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zsl.org\/bertarelli-programme-in-marine-science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Bertarelli Programme in Marine Science<\/b><\/a>, an international collaborative initiative focused on the Chagos Archipelago in the British Indian Ocean Territory, we are investigating on the structure and function of pristine coral reef ecosystems, the impact of large marine protected areas on the management and conservation of sharks and other broad-ranging marine megafauna, the fundamental spatial ecology of these animals, and the effectiveness of mega-reserves in remote oceanic regions<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37efb1a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"37efb1a\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-93c845b elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"93c845b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9e0a10a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"9e0a10a\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6f48aa8 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"6f48aa8\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f8a4521 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f8a4521\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>With an interdisciplinary team of biologists, oceanographers, naval and aerospace engineers, we are working on developing a set of innovative systems integrating new satellite tag technology, autonomous drones, machine learning, and big data, to detect illegal fishing in remote large marine reserves and the high-seas. We are developing anti-poaching satellite- and radio-tagging based technologies to aid monitoring and enforcement in remote large marine protected areas. And we are\u00a0designing monitoring systems using swarms of autonomous intelligent drones to detect fishing vessels as they intrude into restricted locations.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4294e9a e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"4294e9a\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7d151d8 elementor-position-top elementor-widget elementor-widget-image-box\" data-id=\"7d151d8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image-box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image-box-wrapper\"><figure class=\"elementor-image-box-img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Image-Medium.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-212\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Image-Medium.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Image-Medium-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/seaql.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Image-Medium-624x351.jpeg 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"elementor-image-box-content\"><h3 class=\"elementor-image-box-title\">Ocean Intelligence and Poachbusting<\/h3><p class=\"elementor-image-box-description\">Designing state of the art systems and technologies to detect illegal fishing, vessel encroachment, and the status of marine reserves \n\n  <style>\n  p { text-align: justify; }\n  <\/style><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Big Data sharkPulse sharkPulse is a crowdsourcing initiative to collect image-based sightings of sharks from all over the world. One of the biggest hurdles of shark conservation is the lack of data on abundance and distribution of many of their species. To address this challenge, we have developed sharkPulse, a modular crowd-sourcing platform combining smartphone [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-190","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaql.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaql.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaql.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaql.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaql.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/seaql.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342,"href":"https:\/\/seaql.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/190\/revisions\/342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaql.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}