New Mapping Technology Has Revealed The "Dark Vessels" Filling The Ocean

More than 70% of this planet is water, with the majority of that coming from the various oceans. Yet, while this water might constitute much of the Earth, what we know of it is incredibly limited. There’s so much beneath the surface that continues to elude us and likely will for many more years, if not forever.

Fortunately, while a lot of stuff in the water is a mystery, researchers are constantly making new discoveries. One of the latest revelations actually revolves around activity happening on the water in regards to the tracking of fishing vessels. New mapping technology has revealed the “dark vessels” filling the oceans, and the findings could be pretty concerning.

Global Fishing Watch revealed the extent of “dark vessels” in the oceans

For years, various organizations have attempted to keep track of the vessels that take to the water by using things like the Automatic Identification System. The problem is that such a system can easily be turned off and not everywhere uses it in the first place. So, plenty of marine activity has been able to fly under the radar, hence why the term “dark vessels" was created. Thankfully, Global Fishing Watch, a Google-funded nonprofit, has managed to identify a lot of these vessels using satellite mapping, GPS data, and AI. Their work has revealed that around three-quarters of industrial fishing vessels aren’t publicly tracked, and that around a third of activity is “missing from public tracking systems.”

The discovery can help to inform new policies regarding maritime activity

As Global Fishing Watch revealed in the journal Nature, they scanned masses of satellite data using artificial intelligence and found a ton of previously unrecorded activity. Areas that were believed to be of little interest to vessels - such as Southeast Asia and the west coast of Africa - actually displayed significant activity in the data. Such revelations are hugely beneficial, especially with the new laws expected to be introduced to try and combat climate change. Having an accurate understanding of what activity is happening out there allows policymakers to make informed decisions that can have a positive impact. The discovery may also resolve questions that might have previously had no answers because we were missing the full picture of what’s going on in our oceans.

The discovery by Global Fishing Watch shows us that it’s not just below the surface of the water that’s sometimes a complete mystery to us. There’s still plenty that happens above the surface that we’re just as oblivious to sometimes. Thankfully, satellite mapping and AI has allowed us to get a better understanding of the marine activity happening around the world so that we can make “dark vessels” a thing of the past.