In May 2025, teams from the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), and Technical University of Denmark (DTU) are boarding the RV Simon Stevin to study marine biodiversity in the southern North Sea using a variety of novel observation sensors. Within the context of the MARCO-BOLO project, this group of scientists aims to create a blueprint for the deployment of multiple environmental and biodiversity sensors to study marine life and how it is changing over time and space.
The fieldwork (happening in the second half of May – 16, 19, 22, and 23, weather dependant) relies on a combination of sensors that will be deployed at sea, some on board fixed observatories (moored on the seafloor) and some simultaneously collecting data from mobile platforms (such as remotely operated vehicles and the RV Simon Stevin). This joint marine biodiversity observation campaign combines:
- Acoustic sensors: including hydrophones, echosounders, and cetacean loggers to study fish and small marine mammals (such as harbour porpoises), as well as the acoustic environment that they experience.
- Imaging tools: such as a plankton imager integrated onboard the RV Simon Stevin which allows to take images – and later on to identify – planktonic organisms in their natural habitat; as well as cameras mounted on a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) able to collect videos for automated identification of marine species.
- Environmental DNA (eDNA) samplers: capturing genetic material shed by organisms into the water column, enabling species detection through molecular analysis, both from fixed as well as mobile platforms.
By combining multiple sensing technologies, this integrated approach offers a powerful and adaptive lens into the marine ecosystem, enabling the detection of life forms ranging from microscopic microbes to large marine animals. By integrating data from fixed observatories with mobile observations, using ROVs, and vessel-integrated sensors, we are constructing a comprehensive picture of biodiversity patterns to better understand these systems and their drivers.
Our work aboard the RV Simon Stevin is more than just scientific exploration; it is a prototype for long-term marine observatories, offering a scalable and interoperable model that could be replicated across ocean basins. This blueprint will help researchers monitor biodiversity change with unprecedented resolution, providing essential data required to understand the relationships between different trophic levels and their environment. Through such activities, the MARCO-BOLO project will contribute high-quality biodiversity data to European data systems and infrastructure, such as the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) and the European Digital Twin of the Ocean (EDITO). Availability of such data is essential to support the efforts of the European Commission to build digital replicas of marine systems through projects such as DTO-BioFlow, ultimately providing policy-makers and stakeholders with science-based data for informed decision-making.