Seeing zooplankton sampling in a sub-Arctic fjord feels especially good on a hot summer day. Great work from our BioBoost+ partners at NORD & @ribas-deulofeu.bsky.social — another step forward in connecting long-term marine monitoring, new field sampling, digitisation, and AI-assisted analysis.

Bioboost+@bioboostplus.bsky.social · 2mo ago

NORD activity – Zooplankton sampling in Sub-Arctic Fjord (Mistfjorden). Earlier in the year there were perfect conditions for Dr. Ribas-Deulofeu @ribas-deulofeu.bsky.social to sample zooplankton in the sub-Arctic fjord Mistfjord (Norway). #MarineEcology #Bioboostplus #Biodiversa

NORD activity – Zooplankton sampling in Sub-Arctic Fjord (Mistfjorden). Earlier in the year there were perfect conditions for Dr. Ribas-Deulofeu @ribas-deulofeu.bsky.social to sample zooplankton in the sub-Arctic fjord Mistfjord (Norway). #MarineEcology #Bioboostplus #Biodiversa

Great work from our BioBoost+ partners @azti.bsky.social This case study is a great example of where marine monitoring is heading: combining underwater imagery, AI tools, and expert ecological knowledge to make biodiversity assessments faster and more scalable. #MarineEcology

Bioboost+@bioboostplus.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Can AI help us monitor life on the seafloor? In this BioBoost+ case study, the AZTI team tested computer vision to detect and count benthic taxa from ROV videos in the south-eastern Bay of Biscay. #BioBoostPlus #AZTI @azti.bsky.social

This is a great project to be involved in, observing without disturbing. I will be soon heading to Crete to deploy our next and most southerly based system. Watch this space for more updates!

Bioboost+@bioboostplus.bsky.social · 3mo ago

New eyes under the sea in Alonissos Marine Park. The University of the Aegean BioBoost+ team, led by Prof. @skatsanevakis.bsky.social , has installed an underwater camera system & buoy at the Alonissos site. #MPA #MarineBiodiversity #MarineMonitoring #UnderwaterCamera #AegeanSea #MarineScience

268 species and counting—Cyprus emerges as a frontline sentinel of marine #bioinvasions 🌊⚠️ Accelerating introductions, diverse pathways, and clear policy implications for the #Mediterranean. Read more: doi.org/10.1007/s105... #MarineEcology #BiologicalInvasions #Biodiversity #InvasiveSpecies 🌐🌍🧪

Researcher position on marine #hydroacoustics. Work on passive acoustic datasets: extracting underwater #noise metrics, detecting #cetacean and other marine fauna sounds, and characterizing marine #soundscapes using acoustic and video data. Deadline: 21 March 👉 euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/416394

Open MSc-level researcher / scientific diver position for the LIFE #PINNACARE project. Focus: conservation and recovery of #Pinna nobilis in Greece through field monitoring, transplantations, larval collectors, repopulation, and more. Deadline: 12 March 👉 euraxess.ec.europa.eu/node/413319

Anyone keen to join our lab? Apply now and join a dynamic team on the forefront of marine conservation biodiversity research.

Stelios Katsanevakis@skatsanevakis.bsky.social · 5mo ago

📢 Two open positions in our lab at the Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean (Greece). If you are interested in #MarineBiodiversity, #conservation, and research on marine ecosystems, consider applying. Details below 👇

100 years of January sea surface temperature anomalies. Note the long-term warming and patterns of climate variability (e.g., El Niño/La Niña). Data from NOAA ERSSTv5 at psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded...

Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) can play a decisive role in reaching biodiversity targets — yet they remain underused and unevenly assessed. 🌍🌐 #Biodiversity #Conservation #OECMs #NaturePolicy #ProtectedAreas #GlobalBiodiversityFramework

Biodiversa+ INSPIRE Project@inspire-biodiv.bsky.social · 6mo ago

We are happy to share our latest blog post "Unlocking the potential of OECMs for achieving conservation targets: what the global evidence shows" summarising a recent publication from our @biodiversa.eu INSPIRE project Aegean team: www.inspire-biodiversa.com/post/unlocki...

#Biodiversity doesn’t follow borders — but #conservation policy still does. A new policy brief, inspired by Haubrock et al. (2026), calls for cross-border coordination, open ecological data, and stronger early warning to tackle #InvasiveSpecies. Supported by #GuardIAS #bioinvasions 🧪🌐🌍

🌍 New release: #GuardIAS Newsletter #1! From early-warning AI systems to field eradication trials, see how we’re turning science into action against #AquaticInvasions across Europe. Read it here: guardias.eu/wp-content/u... @guardias.bsky.social #bioinvasions #InvasiveSpecies #MarineEcology 🧪🌐🌍🌊🐟

More hope for #ocean The Marine Protection Atlas measures progress toward protecting 30% of the #ocean in fully and highly protected areas by 2030. As of today, 9.6% of the ocean is protected and 3.2% is highly protected. #GES4SEAS #MOOC #oceanoptimism #MarineEcology #Research https://mpatlas.org/

Home

The Marine Protection Atlas (MPAtlas.org) was created by the Marine Conservation Institute to more effectively communicate levels of marine protection worldwide.

mpatlas.org

useful link, thanks #GES4SEAS MOOC for letting us know! #MarineEcology

GES4SEAS MOOCs@ges4seas-mooc.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 6mo ago

You can discover the #MPAs in the world, and their status, using this link of Protected Planet, where 16,805 MPAs are presented https://www.protectedplanet.net/en/thematic-areas/marine-protected-areas #GES4SEAS #MOOC #oceanoptimism #MarineEcology #Research

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Aliens: the spread of invasive plants and animals across Europe – in pictures

Erik Irmer has been documenting the spread of invasive plant and animal species that disrupt native ecology across Europe. He focuses on humans’ interactions with these plants and animals. Aliens is p...

theguardian.com

Looking forward to the next installations!

Bioboost+@bioboostplus.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Deployed ✅ Our partners from University of the Aegean reef station is live: a Raspberry Pi camera/computing system + solar buoy sending reef images continuously. Built on a small budget to make monitoring more affordable—now we’re testing real-world durability + uptime. #MarineScience #Bioboostplus

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Greek tragedy: the rare seals hiding in caves to escape tourists

Greece is hoping that protected areas will help keep daytrippers away and allow vulnerable monk seals to return to their island habitats

theguardian.com

🐟🪸We’ve just published the first documented nesting aggregation of black seabream (Spondyliosoma cantharus) in the Mediterranean Sea. Author link (view-only): rdcu.be/eTtif @skatsanevakis.bsky.social @thanasisnikolaou.bsky.social #NEMOTOOLS #marinebiology #ROV #spawninggrounds #conservation

The University of the Aegean invites applications for a 2-year Researcher (MSc, #MarineEcology) post under the LIFE-PINNACARE project. Focus: Pinna nobilis #conservation in Greece + field work. 📅 Apply by 6 Jan 2026. 📧 More info: euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/393307 — dive in! #Conservation #job 🌍🌐

More great work from our project partners in #Bioboost+ This time from @ribas-deulofeu.bsky.social from NORD collaborating with our other partners AZTI @azti.bsky.social . All in promoting faster biodiversity monitoring!

Bioboost+@bioboostplus.bsky.social · 9mo ago

🎥 Here’s ZooImage in action: segmenting and measuring zooplankton from scanned samples — part of a 40+ year time series from Norwegian fjords. @ribas-deulofeu.bsky.social visited @azti.bsky.social to help build AI tools for faster biodiversity monitoring. #BioBoostPlus #AI4Oceans #Zooplankton

The Lionfish (Pterois miles) 🐠 Its stomach expands up to 30x when feeding! It’s a major threat, known for devastating native fish & wrecking marine ecosystems. The #GuardIAS project is running control programs in the Aegean Sea. Read more: guardias.eu #InvasiveSpecies #BioInvasions #IAS

At a recent workshop in Monaco, Maria Zotou shared how the #GuardIAS project is tackling the lionfish invasion in Crete & Santorini through population control & commercial fishing. Read more about the event here: guardias.eu/lionfish-in-... #InvasiveSpecies #BioInvasions #IAS

🪸New paper out on mesophotic coralligenous reefs in the NE Aegean. We used side-scan sonar + ROV surveys to map gorgonian assemblages and quantify the impact of marine litter in a Natura 2000 site. Open access: www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13... #marinebiology #Mediterranean #Natura2000 #NEMOTools

More Great progress from our #Bioboost+ project partners in Italy. Great work!

Bioboost+@bioboostplus.bsky.social · 9mo ago

🟡 Using RoboFlow to ID key species like Axinella cannabina (crucial to Mediterranean benthic ecosystems) from ROV footage in Torre Guaceto (Italy). Tech meets conservation under the sea! 🎥 Marine Ecology Lab, Univ. of Naples Federico II #ROV #AI4Oceans #MarineScience #BioBoostPlus #Sponges

Meet #GuardIAS WP6 Leaders, Dr Maria Sini & Dr Nóirín Burke! 📣 Their team helps tell the story of the entire project. They collaborate with all partners to share GuardIAS's innovations and successes with the world. Read more: guardias.eu/work-package... #InvasiveSpecies #BioInvasions #IAS

More great work progress from our project partners. This time from UNINA! Keep up the great work!

Bioboost+@bioboostplus.bsky.social · 9mo ago

🧠 CoralNet in action! Here’s how the Marine Ecology Lab UNINA is using #AI-powered #photoquadrat analysis to identify coralligenous assemblages. 📸 Credit: Marzia Cianflone, Fraschetti - Marine Ecology Lab, Univ. of Naples Federico II #MarineScience #Coralligenous #BioBoost+

🧠 CoralNet in action! Here’s how the Marine Ecology Lab UNINA is using #AI-powered #photoquadrat analysis to identify coralligenous assemblages. 📸 Credit: Marzia Cianflone, Fraschetti - Marine Ecology Lab, Univ. of Naples Federico II #MarineScience #Coralligenous #BioBoost+

A warning at #GuardIAS Conference from @bgallardo.bsky.social : drought “solutions” like reservoirs and inter-basin transfers can become #invasion highways. With quagga mussels primed to expand under #ClimateChange, integrating #biosecurity into water-infrastructure planning is no longer optional.

A lively #GuardIAS talk from Mar Santos-Simón: marina-based citizen science is turning boaters into frontline biofouling sentinels. With hands-on sampling, rapid alien-species checks, and “adopt-a-collector” monitoring, these events are boosting awareness and expanding surveillance capacity in Italy

Some great output from our project partners in Bioboost+!

Bioboost+@bioboostplus.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Testing a YOLO-based computer vision model to ID 13 benthic species from underwater images. It boosts automated species recognition, aiding large-scale biodiversity monitoring & better marine conservation. @azti.bsky.social #AI4Oceans #BenthicEcology #MarineScience #BioBoost+