SUSTAINABILITY
A game-changer for ghost net hunting Gabriele Dederer, research diver and project manager for ghostnets at WWF Germany, explains the importance of the project. She says:“ Ghost nets endanger marine animals and ecosystems and make up a significant proportion of plastic waste in the ocean, but they are invisible under the water surface and their detection is complex.“ The combination of sonar search and AI-supported detection enables a quantum leap.”
Gabriele adds:“ The seabed is mapped all over the world and there is a huge amount of data. If we can specifically check existing image data from heavily fished marine zones, this is a real gamechanger in the search for ghost nets.“ We hope that research institutes, authorities and companies will take part in the collaboration.”
AI support also enables WWF to extend its own search to larger sea areas, with AI accuracy already 90 %.
Sonar tech tackles Mediterranean crisis Depending on the nature of the seabed, it is often difficult to tell whether a suspicious structure is a sanded-in net or a cable. The AI is trained to reliably detect these subtle differences in sonar images from different systems, making it possible to evaluate existing data sets in a targeted manner.
72 March 2026