In a bid to help clear the Gulf of Carpentaria of marine debris, Australian researchers will undertake a project using drones and artificial intelligence software routines to quantify the volume of marine debris from remote and difficult to access coastlines. 

Researchers at Charles Darwin University (CDU) say ghost nets are abandoned, lost or discarded fishing nets, and can cause injury or death to marine species that may become entangled in them. The two-year project was successfully granted $400,000 from the Australian Government only last week and will use long-distance uncrewed autonomous aircraft to identify and map the distribution of ghost nets across nearly 958 km of NT coastline. 

The Wire’s Aryana Mohmood spoke with Professor Hamish Campbell, Director of North Australia Centre for Autonomous Systems, to find out more…

Image: Image courtesy Cottonbro Studios | Pexels

Produced By: Aryana Mohmood

Featured In Story: Professor Hamish Campbell, Director of North Australia Centre for Autonomous Systems

First aired on The Wire, Monday 22 May 2023