BenthicAI

The ocean floor hosts a rich but largely hidden ecosystem shaped by burrowing organisms such as worms, clams and other infauna. BenthicAI aims to make this invisible life visible by combining underwater camera systems, acoustic sonar imaging and artificial intelligence. Rather than disturbing sediments through sampling, the project non-invasively identifies species based on the characteristic surface traces they create on the seafloor, such as holes, mounds and burrows. Image data from controlled environments, including aquariums and tidal flats, are combined with recordings from deeper and hard-to-access marine areas to train AI models that recognize species-specific patterns. The resulting high-resolution species and habitat maps provide valuable information for nature conservation, fisheries management and marine spatial planning.