AI Transforms Antarctic Seafloor Exploration

Published Date : 20/10/2025 

Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey have leveraged advanced AI technology to significantly speed up the process of identifying marine life in photographs and videos of the Antarctic seafloor, reducing analysis time from hours to mere seconds. 

New advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are transforming the way scientists explore and understand some of the most remote parts of the ocean around Antarctica and the unique creatures that inhabit them. Using the latest AI technology, scientists from the British Antarctic Survey have dramatically sped up the process of detecting animals found in photographs and video taken of the seafloor – from taking several hours to just a few seconds per image.

The use of this tool, in combination with expert scientists, is fast enough that it could even be used on research vessels in Antarctica to label photographs in real time as they are taken. This major increase in speed and efficiency enables researchers to cover a much larger area of the seafloor when trying to decide which parts of Antarctica need special protection.

The Antarctic seafloor is home to over 94% of all the species known from the Southern Ocean, most of which are not found anywhere else on Earth and are adapted to sub-zero temperatures. As climate change and human activities threaten these specially evolved animals, it is crucial to gather information to help us understand where these animals live and which species are at greatest risk.

“This new AI technology will massively speed up how marine biologists analyse the data they collect. Before we developed this tool, image analysis was performed by hand, taking up to eight hours per photo. By having the AI work alongside the human experts, we can cut this down to a few seconds per photo,” said Dr. Cameron Trotter, Machine Learning Research Scientist at British Antarctic Survey and lead author of the study. “This allows us to analyse far more data than ever before, speeding up our understanding of these unique and globally important ecosystems.”

Training AI tools to understand the Antarctic seafloor and the creatures that call it home is extremely challenging. The model was trained on images taken on board Germany’s polar research ship, the RV Polarstern, of the Alfred Wegener Institute, in the Weddell Sea.

“The images we used to train the AI are extremely high-resolution and packed full of weird and unusually shaped animals, often living on top of each other, some of which have never been seen before,” Dr. Trotter added.

Scientists labelled each animal in 100 images which captured a range of seafloor species and representing a range of conditions. Learning from these labelled images, the AI can now find and label the same types of animals in photographs taken across the Southern Ocean. It can identify many of the most commonly seen seafloor creatures, including starfish, corals, sponges, and fish.

“This is a game-changer for the way in which we analyse the seafloor, unlocking vast quantities of data crucial for the conservation of Antarctic ecosystems,” said co-author Dr. Rowan Whittle, a Palaeobiologist at British Antarctic Survey. “Traditionally, scientists have relied on destructive dredging and fishing methods to collect biodiversity data, but the use of photography and AI allows rapid data collection, whilst not causing any disturbance to this vulnerable environment.”

Researchers are already using this technology in their research, with a backlog of over 30,000 images from the Antarctic Peninsula and Weddell Sea currently being analysed. The findings have strong potential for species discovery, as well as providing policymakers with crucial information that will help protect the creatures found in this vulnerable ecosystem.

The study, titled 'Automated Detection of Antarctic Benthic Organisms to Aid Biodiversity Monitoring' by Cameron Trotter, Huw J. Griffiths, Tasnuva Ming Khan, and Rowan J. Whittle, was published at the Joint Workshop on Marine Vision, hosted as part of the International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV), in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS): 

Q: What is the main benefit of using AI for seafloor exploration?

A: The main benefit is the dramatic reduction in time required to analyze images, from several hours to just a few seconds per image. This allows scientists to cover a much larger area of the seafloor and gather more data efficiently.

Q: How does the AI tool work alongside human experts?

A: The AI tool can quickly identify and label animals in images, which can then be verified by human experts. This collaboration ensures accuracy and significantly speeds up the analysis process.

Q: What are some of the challenges in training AI for this purpose?

A: The challenges include dealing with extremely high-resolution images filled with uniquely shaped animals, some of which have never been seen before. The AI must be trained to recognize a wide variety of species and conditions.

Q: Why is the Antarctic seafloor important for biodiversity?

A: The Antarctic seafloor is home to over 94% of all the species known from the Southern Ocean, most of which are not found anywhere else on Earth. These species are adapted to sub-zero temperatures and are crucial for the ecosystem.

Q: How does this technology help with species conservation?

A: By providing rapid and accurate data collection, the technology helps researchers understand where different species live and which are at greatest risk. This information is crucial for developing effective conservation strategies and policies. 

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