A second chance for coral

Coral reefs are sometimes called the rainforests of the sea—a fitting nickname, as both are ecologically diverse, structurally complex and critically endangered. Scientists estimate that 75% of the globe’s coral reefs are severely threatened1 by climate change and chronic pollution. It’s a dismal data point that becomes a dire reality when you consider that reefs support at least 25% of marine species, not to mention the food source and livelihood for half a billion people worldwide. 

But the scientific community hasn’t lost hope. Global conservationists are now able to conduct more regular in-water monitoring for the majority of major coral reef regions of the world thanks to modern camera technology. However, limited resources and inconsistent data formats have made it difficult to synthesize the millions of data points collected from the photos. Without a modern and efficient way to integrate global reef-monitoring efforts, conservation research and decision-making is incredibly slow, and data can easily become outdated. In fact, it currently takes up to four years to collate all that data—and with the climate situation changing so rapidly, this is time that the world’s reefs simply don’t have.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is the country’s tropical marine research agency tasked with protecting and preserving Australia’s marine ecosystems. In 2019, the institute started a project to improve reef conservation. Around the same time, The Dock (Accenture’s global R&D and flagship innovation center located in Ireland) ran an environmental–themed AI hackathon. The winning idea? Using AI to monitor, analyze and protect coral reefs. 

AIMS teamed up with The Dock to tackle the challenge together, kicking off a journey to transform how the scientific community approaches the conservation of this fragile marine ecosystem.

¹ Coral Reef Risk Outlook