The U.K. government, under the Blue Belt program , has announced its plan to install underwater camera rigs for monitoring ocean wildlife in its overseas territories. The entire project will be funded by the U.K., making it the largest ocean monitoring system in the world. The Blue Belt program covers over 4 million square kilometers of ocean space, which the U.K. government has pledged to protect. Today, only 7.65% of oceans are categorized as protected areas . Unfortunately, most projects that target ocean wildlife protection only focus on major landmarks. According to Jessica Meeuwig, a professor at the University of Western Australia and co-creator of Blue Abacus, the project shifts attention from major landmarks to other areas of the ocean . Blue Abacus is a project partner and helped develop the technology known as Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems (BRUVS), which will be used to monitor marine life. Meeuwig explained most people assume that ocean wildlife is okay just because they can’t see what’s happening. By installing a network of underwater cameras, she noted that it will help document changes that happen to ocean wildlife. A study carried out in January revealed that the population of sharks and rays […]
Click here to view original web page at UK launches world’s largest ocean monitoring system
