Torre Guaceto: Innovative Technologies for Monitoring Marine Biodiversity

Collecting continuous, standardized, and comparable data on the marine ecosystem is one of the main challenges today for biodiversity conservation and for the increasingly effective management of Marine Protected Areas. Having access to systematically collected information is, in fact, essential for understanding the health of habitats, tracking their changes over time, and evaluating the effectiveness of the conservation measures adopted. Despite the progress made in recent years, our understanding of many species and habitats remains fragmented, partly due to the complexity of the marine environment, the high costs, and the operational difficulties associated with traditional monitoring methods.

To address this need, a pilot project has been launched in the Torre Guaceto Marine Protected Area in Puglia, aimed at leveraging innovative and non-invasive technologies to observe and study marine biodiversity. The initiative stems from a collaboration between the Torre Guaceto Management Consortium,the University of Naples Federico II— a partner in the BioBoost+ project—and WSense.

At the heart of the project are two experimental video monitoring systems installed in the reserve’s two Zone A areas, at a depth of about ten meters. The structures, built and positioned by the company Engineering Planning Construction, were anchored to the seabed using concrete blocks to ensure their stability throughout the monitoring campaign. Each system is equipped with one and two video cameras, respectively, which will record footage for about six hours a day over the course of a month, while also collecting environmental data, such as water temperature.

The goal is to better understand the effectiveness of the protected area’s management strategies and, if necessary, improve them based on scientific evidence. The cameras are focused on the Posidonia oceanica seagrass beds, one of the most important habitats in the Mediterranean, a vital reservoir of biodiversity and a refuge for numerous fish species. The monitoring will make it possible to document the fauna associated with this ecosystem without interfering with its natural balance.

Passive video monitoring systems are, in fact, one of the most promising technologies for studying the marine environment. They allow organisms to be observed in their natural habitat without capturing or manipulating them, collecting large amounts of biological data with high spatial and temporal resolution while minimizing the impact on ecosystems.

Another innovative feature is the technology developed by WSense. Through its Underwater IoT network, the company has integrated the cameras with the WNode Enhanced device, enabling the management and transmission of complex multimedia data in an underwater environment. The images collected are then processed using artificial intelligence and deep learning algorithms capable of automatically recognizing, classifying, and cataloging marine species, transforming the video footage into highly valuable information for scientific research and conservation.

The identifications made by the artificial intelligence will subsequently be verified, corrected, and supplemented by Francesca Acampa, a doctoral student in the National Doctoral Program on Biodiversity at the Marine Ecology Laboratory of the University of Naples Federico II, led by Professor Simonetta Fraschetti. This step will ensure high standards of accuracy and reliability for the collected data.

The pilot project represents a significant step forward in the development of increasingly efficient, continuous, and sustainable monitoring systems capable of strengthening the scientific foundation necessary for the protection of marine biodiversity and supporting adaptive management of Marine Protected Areas. The integration of field observations, digital technologies, and scientific expertise opens up new perspectives for better understanding how coastal ecosystems function and for addressing the challenges of their long-term conservation with increasingly effective tools.